Box Score

Lake Forest, Ill. – Lake Forest College raced out to a big first half lead and defeated the Prairie Fire 113-86 in Midwest Conference play on Saturday.

The Foresters and Knox were tied twice when the hosts took an 8-6 lead, the start of an 8-0 run, less than 1:30 into the game.

The Prairie Fire snapped the run on a 3-point basket by sophomore Jamie Blue (Urbana, IL, University) that trimmed the LFC advantage to 14-9 at the 16:46 mark.

The Foresters pushed the lead to 12 (27-15) with a 13-6 surge over the next 5:30.  Knox twice cut the deficit to nine, the second time at 29-20 on a basket by junior Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) midway through the first half.

Lake Forest answered with an 8-0 run for their biggest lead of the half, 37-20 with 8:07 remaining.

A basket by first-year Molly Lascelles (Ipava, IL, VIT) capped a string of six unanswered points one minute later that kept the Prairie Fire within reach at 37-26.

Knox couldn't muster a big run to get any closer, and instead, the Foresters outscored the Prairie Fire 23-14 over the final 7:00 to lead 60-40 at halftime.

Lake Forest didn't allow many opportunities for Knox to employ a full-court press by shooting 71 percent from the field and 16-of-23 from the free throw line.

The Prairie Fire couldn't keep pace with the hot shooting Foresters.  Knox connected on 34 percent in the half and made 8-of-15 foul shots.

Lake Forest (1-7, 1-3 MWC) scored the first six points of the second half and went on to earn its first win of the season.

The Prairie Fire (1-5, 0-2 MWC) wound up shooting 31.5 percent overall, including 10 baskets from 3-point range, and hit 20-of-37 foul shots.  The Foresters continued to shoot well in the second half and finished at 60 percent to go along with 27-of-37 free throw shooting.

Marver had a big night for Knox with a career-high 27 points.  Senior Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) added 14 points, junior Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) contributed 13 points and three steals, and Blue scored nine points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Knox returns home to face Monmouth College on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.  The Fighting Scots (5-2, 2-2 MWC) defeated Beloit College 78-53 at home on Saturday, their second straight win.

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