Box Score

The Prairie Fire made the most of its first home game in a month by beating Beloit College 65-56 Friday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Knox (4-9, 3-5) last played at Memorial Gym on December 15 and defeated Lawrence University 74-50.  The game against the Buccaneers (3-8, 1-5 MWC) was a stark contrast to the previous contest, a 77-45 loss at Lake Forest College.  The Prairie Fire struggled in the second half against the Foresters, shooting 4-of-23 and scoring 11 points after trailing by just six points at halftime.

The Fire held a 32-31 lead at the intermission against the Bucs and made it hold up.  Knox grabbed its biggest lead of the first half, 17-10, after a steal by sophomore Kristin McDonald (Chicago, Illinois) and a basket by sophomore Sara Johnson (Grinnell, Iowa) at the 11:08 mark.  Beloit fought back and tied the game at 27-27 with 3:04 to play.  Knox responded by scoring five straight points followed by a 4-0 run by the Buccaneers to account for the slim lead after the first 20 minutes of play.

The hosts shot 13-of-28 (46 percent) in the first half while holding Beloit to 10-of-28 (36 percent).

The Prairie Fire scored the first basket of the second half at 17:20 on an offensive putback by junior Kelly Ricketts (Galesburg, Illinois).  After Johnson made a pair of free throws with 16:52 to play and Knox leading 36-31, Beloit scored 10 of the next 12points to take the lead at 41-38 with 13:19 left in the game.  The Bucs extended their lead to five at 50-45 with 9:00 to play when the Fire made its move.

A 9-4 run by Knox tied the game at 54-54 at the 3:44 mark.  The Prairie Fire regained the lead for good at 55-54 when junior Krystyna Williams (Evanston, Illinois) split a pair of free throws, part of an 11-2 run to close out the game and put Knox over the top.  The win improved the Prairie Fire's record at home to 3-2.

The Prairie Fire defense held Beloit to 35.6 percent shooting in the game and forced 25 turnovers by the Bucs.  The Fire cooled off in the second half, shooting 34.5 percent, but still connected for 40 percent overall.  Knox scuffled a bit from the foul line, finishing at 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) -- including 11-of-21 in the second half -- but made enough to pull out the victory.

Williams had a double-double for the Fire -- 19 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs.  Junior Abby Owens (Grinnell, Iowa) played well in a starting role with 12 points -- including three baskets from long range -- five rebounds, five assists and three steals.  Johnson and McDonald, who added seven rebounds, chipped in with 10 points each.

Diana Sopkowicz led Beloit with 12 points and Sara Stariha had 10.

The Prairie Fire resumes play at home Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against #17 ranked St. Norbert College (11-2, 7-1 MWC).  Illinois College handed the Green Knights their first Midwest Conference loss of the season, 59-52, Friday night in Jacksonville, Illinois.