Jacksonville, IL – It was a tale of two halves for the Prairie Fire, who saw a two-game winning streak end with a 103-91 Midwest Conference loss on Saturday at Illinois College.

Knox (4-13, 4-8 MWC) and IC were tied at 24-24 with 11:50 to play in the opening half when the Fire put together a big run that would result in a double-digit lead at halftime. 

An 18-8 spurt gave the Fire a 42-32 lead with 6:07 remaining.  The Lady Blues (5-12, 5-7 MWC) cut the deficit to 42-36 at 4:42 before Knox closed the half on a 16-6 run for a 58-42 advantage on the intermission.

The Fire shot 42 percent overall, including 8-of-20 from 3-point range and knocked down 12-of-13 foul shots.  IC connected on 49 percent from the floor in the half and 5-of-8 free throws.

Illinois College took control in the second half as Knox struggled to make shots.  IC took the lead at 67-66 with 13:52 to play.  The Prairie Fire scored on the next possession to reclaim a 68-67 advantage, but never led again.

Illinois College outscored Knox 17-4 and led 85-71 with 5:10 left in the game.  The Prairie Fire closed to within eight points at 99-91 with 34 seconds left, but couldn’t draw any closer.

Knox made 11-of-50 second half shots (22 percent) and finished at 32 percent overall.  IC, meanwhile, shot a red hot 19-of-26 (76 percent) over the final 20 minutes and 60 percent in the game.

First-yearJodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) led four Prairie Fire players in double-figure scoring with 16 points.  Junior Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) had 15, junior Sara Johnson (Grinnell, Iowa, Grinnell) 12, and seniorAbby Owens (Grinnell, IA, Grinnell) 11.  Senior Krystyna Williams (Evanston, IL, Evanston Township) added 14 rebounds for Knox.

Morgan Brinker and Brittany Burgess each scored 20 points for Illinois College.

The Prairie Fire resumes play on January 31 at Grinnell College.

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