Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Illinois – Illinois College pulled away from the Prairie Fire in the second half and posted an 89-62 Midwest Conference win on Wednesday.

The Prairie Fire, who defeated IC 100-89 at home on December 9, had a rare off night scoring the basketball.  Ranked second in the nation at 90.6 points, Knox managed only 13 over the final ten minutes in the squad's lowest scoring game of the season.

The Prairie Fire (6-9, 4-6 MWC) grabbed a 2-0 lead on a layup by senior Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg).  IC (10-5, 7-3 MWC) ran off 12 unanswered points for a 12-2 advantage at the 16:40 mark.  Knox answered with a 10-2 run, including a string of eight straight that ended with a 3-point basket by junior Jasmine Binion (Davenport, IA, Assumption), to trim the deficit to 14-12 with about 14:00 left in the first half.

The Lady Blues built the lead to 27-19 a little over six minutes later.  First-year Elena Angueira-Bosch (Isabela, Puerto Rico, Spires Academy) and Howard combined for seven points during an 8-2 surge that brought the Prairie Fire back within two (29-27) with 6:14 remaining.

The runs continued with IC scoring nine of the next 11 points for a 38-29 lead that Knox chopped to four on a 3-pointer by Howard and a layup by first-year Kayla Brown (Roseville, CA, Wilton Christian).

Illinois College sank two free throws to close out the first half on top 40-34.

IC began the second stanza with two buckets in the first minute to regain a double-digit lead at 44-34.  The Prairie Fire remained within eight points on a basket by sophomore Molly Lascelles (Ipava, IL, VIT).

The Lady Blues stretched the margin to 11 with their second 3-pointer of the game on the next possession. Knox twice cut the lead to nine on baskets by junior Saundra Gavazzi (Gilbert, AZ, Chandler) and Brown, and trailed 49-40 with 15:11 to play.

After calling a time out, IC scored five consecutive points to push the advantage to 14.  The Prairie Fire got as close as 11 on a 3-pointer by Howard with 12:46 left, and were still within striking distance – down 66-54 – with 8:50 on the clock.

A 19-3 run by Illinois College over the next six minutes sealed the victory.

Knox shot a chilly 24.5 percent (24-of-98) overall, including 8-of-44 from 3-point range.  IC hit 50 percent from the floor in the second half and 46 percent (33-of-72) for the game.  The Lady Blues also outscored the Prairie Fire 21-6 from the free throw line and held a 76-45 edge on the glass.

Howard led Knox in scoring with 14 points to go with four steals.  Brown added a team-high eight rebounds.

Hannah McGinnis scored 35 points and set a new Midwest Conference single-game record with 27 rebounds to lead Illinois College.

The Prairie Fire return to Memorial Gym to face Lawrence University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.  The Vikings (0-14, 0-10 MWC) fell 49-37 at Ripon College on Wednesday.