Box Score

Galesburg, Ill. – Carroll University broke open a close game early in the second half and defeated the Prairie Fire 92-78 on Saturday at Memorial Gym.

Junior Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) gave Knox a 42-39 lead when she knocked down a 3-point basket on the first possession of the second half.

The Pioneers (10-5, 7-3 MWC), who last led at 11-10 with 13:16 remaining in the first half, went on a 20-2 run to grab a 59-44 lead with 14:14 left in the game.  Carroll led by as many as 17 points.

The Prairie Fire (3-11, 1-8 MWC) closed the gap to 85-75 on a 3-pointer by Chantal Heckman (Chicago, IL, Latin) with 1:57 to play.  Knox got within 10 points on two other occasions, the last time on a free throw by Marver to make it an 88-78 game with 1:00 left.

The Prairie Fire held the lead for most of the first half.

Knox, down 11-7 at the 14:19 mark, scored nine straight points – a 3-pointer by Heckman, a 3-point play by Marver, and a 3-point field goal by junior Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) – for a 16-11 advantage with 12:00 to play in the opening stanza.

The Prairie Fire answered each time the Pioneers tied the game.

Senior Grace Theisen (Minneapolis, MN, Southwest) made a jumper at the midway point of the first half to give Knox a 20-18 lead following an 18-18 deadlock.  Junior Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) sank two free throws with 7:07 to go after Carroll tied the game at 23.

Howard connected on a jumper with 4:05 to play in the half that snapped a 28-28 tie and started an 8-2 run that resulted in a 36-30 Prairie Fire lead, their largest of the game, with 3:24 remaining.

The Pioneers outscored Knox 9-3 the rest of the way, including a 3-point bucket just before the buzzer, to tie the game at 39 at halftime.

The teams combined for 34 fouls, 25 turnovers, and 15-of-39 (38 percent) shooting from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes of the contest.

Knox shot 42 percent from the floor and 9-of-23 from the foul line in the first half.  Carroll connected on 46 percent shooting and was 6-of-16 from the stripe.

The Pioneers, who swept the season series against Knox after winning the first meeting 104-94 two weeks ago in Waukesha, Wisconsin, heated up to 56 percent shooting in the second half.  Carroll outscored the Prairie Fire 53-39 after halftime and shot 54 percent overall.

Knox cooled off to 28 percent shooting in the second half but improved from the free throw line, hitting 17-of-25 attempts.  The Prairie Fire finished the game shooting 35 percent – including 8-of-27 from 3-point range – and made 26-of-48 (54 percent) foul shots.

The Pioneers dominated the glass 55-30 and held an 18-6 advantage in second chance points.

Marver led four Knox players in double-figure scoring with 19 points.  Heckman contributed 14 points and three steals, Howard had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Theisen added 10 points and six boards.

Emily DeNoyer scored a game-high 25 points while Breann Maryanski had a double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds for Carroll.

The Prairie Fire play their next three games on the road.  The first stop is at Lawrence University next Saturday at 3:00.