Galesburg, IL – Eureka College broke open a close game in the second half and defeated the Prairie Fire 112-83 in the season opener for both teams on Thursday.

Knox (0-1) led for most of the first half.  A 3-point basket by sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) gave the Prairie Fire a 14-10 advantage at the 15:28 mark. 

Knox built its biggest lead at 30-23 when sophomore Krystal Pitts (Round Lake Beach, IL, Round Lake) connected from long distance with 10:15 remaining in the first half.

The Red Devils (1-0) scored the next seven points to tie the game at 30-30.  A free throw by sophomore Brittney Price (Wyoming, IL, Stark County) followed by a basket from sophomore Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) at 8:18 gave the Prairie Fire a 33-30 lead.

Eureka, however, got the lead back for good at 36-35 – part of a 13-5 run – with 5:37 before halftime.  The Red Devils then rolled off six straight points to extend to a 42-35 advantage with just under 4:00 to play.

The Prairie Fire closed the deficit to 50-45 at halftime.

First-year Alycia Webster (Allen Park, MI, Melvindale) converted a three-point play to begin the second half to pull Knox within 50-48.  That’s as close as the Prairie Fire would get as Eureka scored 13 of the next 19 points for a 63-54 lead with 14:39 to play in the game.

The Red Devils took their first double-figure lead at 72-60 at the 12:10 mark.  Knox closed the gap to five points at 72-67 on a bucket by Webster with 10:04 remaining.

Eureka responded with a 17-5 run for an 89-72 lead with 5:30 left put the contest out of reach.

The Red Devils shot 66 percent in the second half and finished at 60.5 percent in the game.  Knox shot 24 percent in the second half, including 4-of-21 from 3-point range, and wound up at 29 percent overall.  The hosts also struggled at the free throw line, knocking down 20-of-40 attempts.

Webster led the Prairie Fire with 17 points and nine rebounds.  Also scoring in double-figures for Knox was sophomore Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) with 13 points while Marver added 11 in just 10 minutes of playing time because of foul trouble.

Kelsey Shoemake led Eureka with 39 points and 17 rebounds.

The Prairie Fire resumes play at home on November 21 against Augustana College.  The tip-off is at 6:00 p.m.  The game will be streamed live beginning at 5:50 p.m. at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#

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