Grinnell, IA – The Prairie Fire came up short of winning a second straight Midwest Conference game as Grinnell College posted a 94-75 victory on Tuesday night.

The Pioneers (9-9, 8-6 MWC) swept the season series and have won five consecutive games against Knox dating back to the 2010-11 season.

The Prairie Fire (7-11, 5-8 MWC) scored five of the first seven points on a 3-point basket by senior Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) and a bucket by first-year Alycia Webster (Allen Park, MI, Melvindale) for a 5-2 lead just 35 seconds into the contest.  Grinnell scored the next six points to take the lead for the first time at 8-5 with 17:38 before the break.

Junior Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) sank a 3-pointer and tied the game at 8-8 with 17:08 in the first half when the Pioneers responded with a big run.

Grinnell scored 16 unanswered points over the next six minutes for a 24-8 lead at the 11:18 mark.  A basket by Webster on the Prairie Fire’s next possession snapped the Pioneer run and trimmed their advantage to 24-10.

The teams played basically even the rest of the half.  Knox outscored Grinnell 17-16 and trailed 40-27 at the intermission.

Cold shooting hurt the Prairie Fire.  Knox was 9-of-42 (21%) from the floor, including 5-of-25 (20%) from 3-point range.  The Pioneers connected on 19-of-38 (50%) shots in the first half.

The Prairie Fire scored the first five points of the second half on a layup by sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) and a 3-pointer by McDonald to whittle the Grinnell lead to 40-32.  The Pioneers answered with seven straight points to reclaim a double-figure lead at 47-32 with 15:46 to play in the game.

Knox continued to fight back and again cut the deficit below 10 points at 47-38 on a 3-point shot by sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) with 14:00 remaining.

Each time the Prairie Fire gained momentum, Grinnell took it away.  The Pioneers extended the lead over the next 2 ½ minutes to 57-41.

Knox was unable to draw any closer than 12 points the rest of the game.

The Prairie Fire, coming off of a 79-68 win over St. Norbert College at Memorial Gym on January 26, tried to hurt the Pioneers’ chances of qualifying for the Midwest Conference Tournament while making a move of their own in the standings.  Instead, Grinnell has won back-to-back games for the second time this month and improved to 6-2 at home.

The Pioneers entered play Tuesday night one game out of fourth place in the MWC standings behind Carroll University.  Lake Forest College, like the Pioneers, is also a game behind Carroll while Cornell College, Monmouth College, St. Norbert, and Carroll currently hold down the first through fourth place spots.  The top four teams qualify for the tournament.

Knox made 26-of-96 (27%) shots in the game, including 16-of-62 (26%) from 3-point distance. 

Howard led three Prairie Fire players in double-figures with 15 points.  Sophomore Brittney Price (Wyoming, IL, Stark County) connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with a career-high 13 points.  Marver also had 13 for Knox.

Grinnell set a new high for points scored in a game this season with 94 and had its best shooting performance to date.  The Pioneers knocked down 41-of-70 (59%) shots overall after making a blistering 69% in the second half. 

Grinnell, ranked ninth in the country in blocked shots per game (6.2), had seven against the Prairie Fire.  Michelle Briggs, who is fourth in NCAA Division III averaging 4.06 blocks per game, had five to go along with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Toluwaloju Alabi also had a double-double for the Pioneers with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

The Prairie Fire resumes play on February 2 at Lake Forest College.  The tip-off is scheduled at 5:00 p.m. following the men’s game.

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