MOUNT VERNON, Iowa—The Prairie Fire women's basketball team dropped a conference matchup at Cornell on Wednesday night.
 
Knox (7-6, 4-2 MWC) struck first when Karlie Thorn hit a three-pointer just 16 seconds into the game. The Prairie Fire maintained their lead until about halfway through the first quarter when the Rams tied the game at 7-7. Cornell then took a 10-7 lead, but the rest of the quarter was back-and-forth with Knox leading 19-16 heading into the second period. The Prairie Fire built up a 25-17 lead early in the second quarter, but the Rams chipped away and only trailed by three heading into halftime.
 
Cornell tied the game with a trey in the first minute of the second half, but Knox retook a five-point lead over the next few minutes. The Rams stormed back and took a 41-35 lead heading into the final quarter. Another conversion from long-range to open up the fourth period gave Cornell at nine-point lead early on. The Rams then built up a double-digit lead in short order and led by as many as 17 points about halfway through the quarter. The Prairie Fire clawed back to a single-digit deficit, but only a little over a minute was left on the clock. Cornell hit six straight free throws in the final minutes to seal the 62-49 victory.
 
Jarrelyn McCall led Knox with 15 points, including hitting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed nine boards. Kyra Huffman added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
 
"Our offense went stagnant in the second half," said head coach Emily Cline. "We fought hard, but it's tough to go on the road against a good Cornell team with shots not falling."
 
The Prairie Fire face another tough road battle as they travel to Lake Forest on January 5.