Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire celebrated Senior Night with an 87-75 win against Illinois College.

Sara Johnson (Grinnell, Iowa, Grinnell) and Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) won the last game they'll play at Memorial Gymnasium.

The victory was the second straight for Knox (9-13, 7-10 MWC) and the second this season against IC.  The Prairie Fire also defeated the Lady Blues (6-16, 4-13 MWC) 92-87 on January 9 in Jacksonville.  The season sweep is the first for Knox against IC since the 2001-02 season.

The Prairie Fire broke away from IC late in the first half.  Knox led by seven points on two occasions, the second time at 27-20 with 6:12 before the break.  Illinois College responded with eight straight points for a 28-27 lead at the 4:13 mark.

Following two more ties, the Lady Blues reclaimed a one point lead at 34-33 with 2:40 left in the opening half.  Knox closed the half with a flurry, scoring eight straight points – five of them by sophomore Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) – to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Prairie Fire extended the lead to 55-41 with 14:37 to play when IC scored nine of the next 10 points and cut the deficit to six at 56-50 with 10:28 remaining in the game. 

Knox answered back with a 19-8 surge, capped off by a bucket from junior Grace Theisen (Minneapolis, MN, Southwest), to take the biggest lead of the contest at 75-58 with 5:46 to play.

Illinois College whittled the deficit down to 77-69 with 3:05 to play, but sophomore Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) hit a jumper on the next possession and the Prairie Fire reclaimed a double-figure lead at 79-69.

IC never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The Prairie Fire shot 43 percent in the second half and 34 percent for the game but drained 11 shots from 3-point range and sank 24-of-35 free throws.

Illinois College, which lost its fifth game in a row, shot 34 percent overall and made 15-of-27 foul shots.

The Lady Blues dominated the glass, outrebounding Knox 66-36.  However, IC committed 35 turnovers that resulted in 41 Prairie Fire points.

Marver led six Knox players in double-figure scoring with 18 points.  Howard added 14, junior Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) had 12 while Theisen, McDonald, and first-year Alycia Webster (Allen Park, MI, Melvindale) netted 10 apiece.  Johnson scored four points and grabbed four rebounds in the victory.

Tiffany King had 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead Illinois College.  The Lady Blues also got a double-double from Hannah McGinnis with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Prairie Fire will try to end the season on a high note on Saturday at Carroll University.  The teams are scheduled to tip off at 5:00 p.m.

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