LAKE FOREST, Illinois—The Prairie Fire women's basketball picked up a huge 86-85 overtime victory over Lake Forest on Saturday.

Knox (13-5, 8-2 MWC) outscored the Foresters 23-20 in the opening quarter, but Lake Forest knotted the score at 40-all heading into halftime. The Prairie Fire built up an 11-point lead by the end of the third quarter and led by as many as 17 midway through the fourth quarter.

The Foresters scored 17 straight points to force another tie with 1:23 to play and took a 70-68 lead with 52 seconds remaining. Jarrelyn McCall scored a layup to force yet another tie, but the Foresters hit a trey to take a 73-70 lead with 30 seconds left. The Foresters fouled Karlie Thorn to prevent the chance for a Prairie Fire three-pointer, but she hit both to bring the score to within one. Thorn then fouled Jaianna Brooks, who missed her second free throw to give Lake Forest a two point lead. McCall hit two free throws to force yet another tie and the Prairie Fire forced a turnover, but missed three shot attempts in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.

Knox scored the first six points in overtime, but the Foresters would not go down with a fight. Lake Forest scored five straight points to bring the game back within a point with 1:43 on the clock. A layup by Morgan Potter, a steal by Hailey Leinart, and two more clutch free throws from McCall gave the Prairie Fire a five point lead with 19 seconds remaining. Lake Forest hit another big three, but McCall converted on both shots from the charity stripe to take a four point lead with 11 seconds left. An unsuccessful three-point attempt by the Foresters took more time off the clock before Lake Forest converted from beyond the arc at the buzzer to bring the final score to within one.

McCall had a monster game with 30 points and 16 rebounds in 38 minutes. She finished the game 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Morgan Potter poured in 17 points and grabbed 13 boards. Karlie Thorn added 15 points thanks to a 3-for-6 showing from long range and Hailey Leinart scored 11 points.

Knox returns home on January 30 to host Illinois College in another important Midwest Conference matchup.