Box Score
GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire and Cornell College battled through seven ties and six lead changes, and both teams overcame double-digit deficits in a Midwest Conference slugfest on Wednesday at Memorial Gym.

When the dust settled, Cornell – which has been a force since returning to the MWC prior to the 2012-13 season – came away with a 108-100 victory to snap a two-game slide and prevent Knox from winning a third straight conference game.

The Prairie Fire (5-6, 3-3 MWC) were also seeking their first win against the Rams since sweeping both games of the 1996-97 season series.

Neither squad led by more than four points through nearly 10 minutes of play.  A pair of free throws by first-year Carley Bechen (Eugene, OR, Churchill) ended a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought for Knox and knotted the score at 17-all with 10:39 to go until halftime.

The Rams (6-6, 4-3 MWC) followed with nine unanswered points, prompting a time-out by Knox, and led 26-17 with just under seven minutes remaining.  First-year Erin Orr (Chicago, IL, Oak Park-River Forest) sank two foul shots that halted a four minute scoreless stretch by the Prairie Fire.  Cornell reclaimed a nine point cushion with a put-back basket off a missed 3-point shot.

Knox recorded its first field goal in nearly nine minutes when first-year Kayla Brown (Roseville, CA, Wilton Christian) knocked down a jumper with 5:27 left in the half.  Senior Jodi Marver (Northbrook, IL, Glenbrook North) added two free throws that whittled the Cornell lead to 28-23.

The Rams scored seven of the next nine points to take their biggest lead, 35-25, less than two minutes later.

The Prairie Fire stormed back with a 15-6 surge.  Sophomore Aly Eastman (Kewanee, IL, Wethersfield), who kick-started the run with a basket, brought Knox back to within a point at 41-40 on a steal and lay-up with 20 ticks on the clock.

Cornell closed out the first half scoring with two free throws for a slim three point edge.

Despite shooting 30 percent from the floor, including 3-of-17 from 3-point range, Knox was able to hang close with the Rams – who shot 52 percent – by converting 14 turnovers into 10 points.  The Prairie Fire committed only five miscues.

Knox came out smoking in the second half, scoring 10 straight points – bookended by 3-pointers from junior Saundra Gavazzi (Gilbert, AZ, Chandler) and first-year Hailey Leinart (Gurnee, IL, Warren Township) – and grabbing a 50-43 lead.  Cornell came back and tied the contest, 52-52, less than four minutes into the second stanza.

The Prairie Fire refused to go away.  Junior Jasmine Binion (Davenport, IA, Assumption) and senior Jessica Howard (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) hit back-to-back 3-point shots that sparked a 17-4 run and the biggest lead of the game at 69-56 with 13:46 to play.

Cornell responded to the big run by Knox with a 20-3 surge that resulted in a 76-72 advantage with about 10:00 remaining.  The Prairie Fire climbed back, and on another 3-pointer by Binion, forced a 79-79 tie.

The teams tied three more times.  Leinart sank her second triple of the game to draw Knox even at 86 with 7:00 left in regulation.

A miss, an offensive rebound, and a 3-point basket on the next possession gave Cornell the lead for good.  An offensive rebound and basket by Bechen cut the Prairie Fire deficit to one, but the Rams hit another big shot from beyond the arc seconds later for enough breathing room to hold off a valiant effort by Knox.

Cornell shot a scorching 68 percent in the second half and wound up at 59 percent overall.  The Rams also knocked down 23-of-32 free throws after halftime and finished 33-of-50 at the stripe.

The Prairie Fire hit nine of their 12 baskets from 3-point range in the second half and closed out the contest shooting 31 percent from the floor.  Knox also made 11-of-16 free throws in the second stanza and 22-of-36 altogether, pulled down a whopping 30 offensive rebounds that contributed to 23 second chance points, and scored 37 points off of 32 Cornell turnovers.

First-year Naja Woods (Minneapolis, MN, Southwest) led four Prairie Fire players in double-figure scoring with 14 points.  Gavazzi and Binion added 12 apiece and Eastman had 11.  Brown paced the team with eight rebounds.

Rikki Mulloy scored a game-high 28 points for the Rams.

Knox goes on the road to face Beloit College (4-7, 3-3 MWC) on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.