GALESBURG, Illinois - The Knox Prairie Fire women's basketball team defeated the Lake Forest Foresters this Saturday afternoon, coming out on top by a final score of 63-45. Their fourth consecutive victory, the Prairie Fire have a 6-8 record on the season, and a 4-3 record in Midwest Conference play.
Knox's offense got off to a slow start, but were able to stay in the game with tenacious defense of their own. The Prairie Fire shot only 9-for-35 in the first half, with many short possessions resulting in missed shots. A lone bright spot was Haylee Carpenter's play off the bench, as she shot 7-for-12 from the floor, including an impressive 5-for-10 performance from three-point territory. Often, her play sparked the Prairie Fire when they were experiencing lulls offensively, sending them on productive runs when they fell into holes. Defensively, Knox forced their fair share of turnovers, and only allowed the Foresters to shoot 29.6% from the floor, which helped them enter the half tied with Lake Forest.
After a quick half-time break, the Prairie Fire turned up their offensive performance while continuing to shut down the Foresters on defense. Knox took plenty of fouls as they drove to the basket, and were able to convert many of their free throw opportunities, going 17-for-22 from the free throw line. Kristin Herndon and Catessa Duran pulled down 13 and 12 rebounds, respectively, for the Prairie Fire, cleaning the glass after forcing missed shots. The effort on both sides of the floor helped Knox pull away, and the 18 point margin of victory felt well deserved.
"The past two games have been a testament to following the game plan and executing our defensive principles," said head coach Kira Mowen. "The team today did a great job of making adjustments and fixing problems for the second half. Credit to Lake Forest for challenging us and making us extend outside of what we wanted to do. I love that as a program a new player can step up each week. Every player is valuable and takes their own individual opportunities as they arise. We will focus on us next week as we prepare for our next matchup!! "
The Prairie Fire will attempt to keep their winning streak going next Saturday when they travel to play Monmouth College at 3 p.m.
