Ripon, WI – The Prairie Fire fell behind early and could never recover in a 100-54 Midwest Conference loss at Ripon College on Saturday.

The Red Hawks (4-9, 3-5 MWC), after a 3-3 tie, went on a 9-0 run to take a 12-3 lead with 17:48 in the first half.  A layup by sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) stopped the run for Knox and made it a 12-5 game with just under 17:00 in the opening stanza.

Ripon took its first double-figure lead at 16-5 at the 15:48 mark.  The Prairie Fire (4-8, 2-5 MWC) scored eight of the next 10 points to cut the deficit to 18:13 on two free throws by Marver with 11:50 remaining in the first half.

The Red Hawks reclaimed an 11 point lead at 24-13 on a layup by Kacie Cullen, part of a 6-0 spurt, 8:41 before the break.  Sophomore Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) sank a pair of free throws to trim the Ripon lead to 24-16 with 8:13 left in the half.

The Red Hawks took control from that point on.

The Prairie Fire struggled on offense and Ripon took advantage by outscoring Knox 24-4 the rest of the half and led 48-20 at the intermission.

Knox made just six field goals in the first 20 minutes of the game and shot 17% (6-of-35), including 1-of-17 from 3-point range.  The Prairie Fire hit 7-of-11 free throws in the first half.

Ripon connected on 53% (19-of-35) from the floor and 10-of-13 from the foul line.

The Red Hawks built on the lead in the second half, outscoring Knox 52-34. 

Ripon scored the first bucket for a 50-20 lead.  The Prairie Fire got no closer than 29 points at 57-28 on a 3-point basket by sophomore Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame).

The Red Hawks finished the game shooting 56% and sank 18-of-27 free throws.  Knox shot 23% overall, including 5-of-35 (14%) from behind the 3-point line, and made 19-of-28 free throws.

Ripon outscored the Prairie Fire 66-18 in the paint and held a 66-28 rebounding advantage.  Knox, despite its shooting struggles, was able to force the Red Hawks into 30 turnovers.

Marver went 8-for-8 at the free throw line and scored a team-high 12 points for the Prairie Fire.  She was joined in double-figures by sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) with 10 points.

Erin Lind and Jill Van Eperen had double-doubles for Ripon, which ended a six-game losing streak while handing Knox its second straight defeat. 

Lind scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.  Van Eperen had 17 points and 11 rebounds as well as seven assists.

The Prairie Fire will try to get back on track Wednesday night at Illinois College. 

The Lady Blues (5-7, 3-4 MWC) lost at Beloit College 77-67 on Saturday.  The victory snapped a 10-game slide for the Buccaneers, who Knox defeated 100-90 on December 8 at Memorial Gym. 

IC has dropped two straight games and four of the last five.  Illinois College, however, has won all three games played at home so far this season.

The game between the Prairie Fire and IC is scheduled to get underway at 7:30 p.m. following the men’s contest – which tips off at 5:30.  The games will be streamed live on the Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ic.portal#

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