Mount Vernon, IA – Cornell College rebounded from its first loss of the season with a 106-66 victory against the Prairie Fire on Wednesday.

The Rams (16-1, 11-1 MWC) – ranked #21 in the latest D3hoops.com and USA Today Coaches’ polls, saw their 15 game winning streak end 47-44 at St. Norbert College last Saturday.  The win also pulled the Green Knights within one game of first place Cornell in the Midwest Conference standings.

However, St. Norbert dropped to two games back after losing 52-34 Wednesday night at Lake Forest College.

Knox (6-10, 4-7 MWC) fell behind early and could never recover.

The Rams, who improved to 10-0 on their home court, jumped out to a 10-2 lead with 16:36 left in the first half.  A basket by first-year Alycia Webster (Allen Park, MI, Melvindale) after the teams traded turnovers cut the lead to six at 10-4.

Cornell responded with a 19-9 run and extended the advantage to 29-13 at the 8:08 mark. 

The Prairie Fire pulled within 13 points at 32-19 on a pair of free throws by sophomore Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) with 4:04 before the break.  The Rams scored 11 of the next 14 points for a 43-22 halftime lead.

Knox struggled to make shots, connecting on 6-of-37 (16%) overall and 1-of-20 from 3-point range, in the first half.  Cornell countered with an 18-of-33 (54%) shooting performance.

The Prairie Fire scored the first five points of the second half on a 3-pointer and a lay-up by sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) to cut the deficit to 43-27.

A 30-13 run over the next 10:30 minutes by the Rams put the game out of reach at 73-40 with 8:47 to play.

Cornell, ranked #9 in the nation in field goal percentage (44.5%), made 60.5% of its shots in the second half and 58% overall.  Knox improved to 39% shooting in the second half and knocked down six 3-pointers but finished at 28% overall.

The Rams also held a big rebounding edge.  Cornell, sixth in the country in rebounding margin (12.7), grabbed 62 boards to the Prairie Fire’s 32.  Knox did force the hosts into 29 turnovers.

Sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) led the Prairie Fire with 11 points.  Webster also scored in double-figures with 10.

Camille Marie led everyone with 22 points for Cornell and Taylor Dicus had a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Knox returns home to play St. Norbert College on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Follow Prairie Fire athletics on Twitter