Box Score
Illinois College used hot shooting and its strength inside to complete a Midwest Conference season sweep of the Prairie Fire, winning 77-60 Wednesday night at Sherman Gymnasium in Jacksonville, Illinois.
The Lady Blues (12-8, 10-5 MWC), currently third in the MWC with two home games and one road contest left in the regular season, are in a good position to qualify for the conference tournament later this month. I.C. has won two straight and four of its last five games while posting a 5-2 record at home.
The Prairie Fire (5-15, 4-11 MWC) suffered its fifth straight loss, including a 74-56 setback against the Lady Blues at home January 29. Knox's last win was at Lawrence University, 56-44, January 15.
Both the Prairie Fire and Illinois College shot the basketball extremely well in the first half. I.C. connected for 18-of-30 from the floor (60 percent), which included 5-of-12 makes from three-point range. Knox canned 13-of-22 shots (59 percent), made 2-of-4 from long distance and hit 6-of-7 from the foul line. Despite the blistering pace by the Prairie Fire, the Lady Blues led 44-34 at the half largely because of a 22-4 scoring advantage in the pain and 18 points off of 13 Knox turnovers.
I.C. scored nine of the first 11 points of the game in a span of 4:10 before the Fire cut the lead to 10-8 on a pair of jumpers by junior Krystyna Williams (Evanston, Illinois) and a bucket by junior Kelly Ricketts (Galesburg, Illinois). Illinois College stretched the lead to 10 at 24-14 with 10:54 to play in the half by scoring on six straight possessions, part of a 14-6 run.
After the lead grew to 33-19 with 7:58 to go, the Prairie Fire answered with five straight points 42 seconds later slice the deficit to single digits (33-24). The teams played virtually even the rest of the first half as I.C. outscored Knox 11-10.
The Prairie Fire again cut the Lady Blues' lead down to single digits at 48-40 at the 17:03 mark. I.C. then made its move and put the game away with a 14-5 run that ballooned the lead to 17 at 62-45 with 10:21 to play in the game. Illinois College extended its advantage to 20, 76-56, with 52 seconds on the clock.
Knox was not able to keep up the torrid shooting pace it established in the first half. The Fire made 11-of-30 shots (37 percent) over the final 20 minutes but still ended at a respectable 47 percent and made 9-of-11 free throws. I.C. did continue its offensive assault, led by center Rachel Macon's 11-of-13 shooting game. The Lady Blues canned 11-of-21 shots in the second half and shot 57 percent for the game.
The two first half issues for the Prairie Fire -- points in the paint and points off of turnovers -- were the big differences in the contest. I.C. outscored Knox 38-18 inside and turned 23 Prairie Fire miscues into 29 points. Knox scored 18 points inside and scored 10 points as a result of 18 Illinois College turnovers.
Macon, the second leading scorer in the Midwest Conference (18.4), dropped in a game-high 27 points for the hosts and added seven rebounds. Megan Moore, who scored 15 points and had seven rebounds in her team's previous win at Knox, had another solid effort against the Prairie Fire. Despite averaging just 3.1 points per game this season, Moore added 14 against the Fire in 19 minutes off the bench.
Williams made 7-of-9 shots and finished with 15 points to lead the Prairie Fire on offense. Ricketts and senior Jenny Haskell (Murphys, California) contributed 13 points apiece. Haskell led the team with eight rebounds.
The Prairie Fire tries to shake off the loss when it hosts Grinnell College (7-12, 6-9 MWC) Monday at Memorial Gym. The game was originally scheduled to be played February 1, but it was postponed because of a winter storm. Both teams will take part in a fundraiser for cancer research called "Play for the Cure." The players will wear pink tee shirts that have both "Play for the Cure" and the Midwest Conference logo on them.
A win will give the Prairie Fire a season sweep over the Pioneers after Knox won at Grinnell 63-62 in early December. Grinnell has dropped two straight games and five of their last six, including four losses at home. The Pioneers are just 2-6 away from Darby Gym.
The tip-off for Monday's game is at 5:00.
(photo courtesy of Laura Mack)
