Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire couldn’t recover from a fast start to the second half by Cornell College and the Rams went on to an 80-60 Midwest Conference victory on Tuesday at Memorial Gym.

After leading by eight at halftime, the undefeated Rams (6-0, 2-0 MWC) outscored Knox 40-28 in the second half on the strength of 50 percent shooting.  The Prairie Fire shot 21 percent over the final 20 minutes, including 3-of-18 (17 percent) from 3-point range after knocking down seven treys in the first half.

Knox (1-5, 1-3 MWC) led 3-2 a little over 3:00 into the game when Cornell went on a 10-0 run for a 12-3 advantage with 15:31 left in the half.  The Prairie Fire fought back and cut the deficit to three twice, the second time at 30-27 with 3:54 before the break.

The Rams rolled off eight straight points to increase the lead to 38-27 at the 1:38 mark.  Knox trimmed the deficit to 40-32 when junior Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) drilled a 3-pointer just ahead of the halftime buzzer.

Cornell opened the second half with six straight points to regain a double-figure lead at 48-32 with 17:00 to play.  Sophomore Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) split a pair of free throws to pull the Fire within 15 points at 48-33 before an 11-1 run by the Rams that put the game out of reach at 59-34 with 14:03 remaining.

Cornell shot 51 percent overall and outrebounded the Prairie Fire 61-37. 

Knox connected on 25 percent shooting in the contest but outscored the Rams 12-5 at the free throw line and forced 28 turnovers.

Sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) led the Prairie Fire in scoring with 14 points.  Sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) added nine points while fellow sophomore Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) scored seven points, dished out five assists, and had five steals.

Camille Marie led all scorers for Cornell with 24 points.

Knox resumes play on Saturday at home against Beloit College at 1:00.  Live Web streaming of the contest begins at 12:40 p.m. at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal

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