GALESBURG, Illinois—The Knox Prairie Fire women's basketball team was defeated by the Lake Forest Foresters at home this Saturday, falling by a score of 73-64. The loss moves their conference record to 3-3 and gives them three losses in their last four games.

The Prairie Fire traded blows early on with the Foresters, and seemed very evenly matched throughout the first half. Jarrelyn McCall had an excellent first half, as her strong presence in the paint on both ends of the floor resulted in her scoring 12 points, pulling down six rebounds, and getting two steals. Her intense pressure on whoever she switched onto helped the Prairie Fire force 12 Lake Forest turnovers, and helped keep the game close despite Lake Forest's better shooting percentage as a team. Catessa Duran added six points and five assists in her role at the point to help Knox end the half tied with Lake forest at 35 a side.

Knox ran into foul trouble in the second half, which helped tip the scales in Lake Forest's favor. The Foresters were able to shoot 18-for-23 from the charity stripe, and the constant stoppages slowed down the faster pace the Prairie Fire thrives in. Kyra Huffman used her 3-for-4 shooting to attempt to buoy Knox's relatively poor 31% shooting in the half, and the team spread around the scoring. Despite this, Lake Forest's presence at the free throw line proved too difficult for the Prairie Fire to overcome.

"We were in it until the final minutes," said head coach Emily Cline. "We will regroup as we face a tough Monmouth team on the road next."

The Prairie Fire look ahead for a win in their game at Monmouth this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.