MONMOUTH, Illinois - The Prairie Fire women's basketball team picked up their fifth straight victory with a 67-59 win over Monmouth on Saturday. The recent play for Knox has put them squarely in the mix for a postseason berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament. The wins from both the men and women at Monmouth mark the first time both Knox teams have won at Monmouth since 1996-97.

Catessa Duran gave the Prairie Fire an early 11-6 advantage with a layup midway through the first quarter. The Fighting Scots finished the quarter on a 9-6 run to bring the game within two points heading into the second period.

Monmouth scored the first five points of the second quarter to take a three point lead, but Knox cut the deficit to one when Duran scored another layup. The Fighting Scots quickly responded with a 9-1 run to take a 29-20 lead. Haylee Carpenter hit a trey with 35 seconds remaining in the first half to tie the game up at 29-29. The teams then traded jumpers to send the game into halftime tied at 31-31.

Duran again made a layup in the early going of the second half, but Monmouth battled back and took a six point lead with 2:12 left in the third quarter. Carpenter hit another three-pointer with 46 seconds left to send the game into the final quarter with the Fighting Scots leading 46-43.

For the fourth straight quarter, a Duran layup was the first score and helped Knox to 24-13 run to finish out the game.

Carpenter led the Prairie Fire with 15 points, thanks to a 3-for-8 showing from long-range. Duran added 14 points and Saxon Alvarez tallied 12 points. Kristin Herndon and Jessica Lee each chipped in 10 points. Herndon also pulled down 14 rebounds to earn a double-double.

"Great Team win against a (almost) cross town rival," said head coach Kira Mowen. "Our defense held up and I'm super proud of our team effort to fight through and stay composed in the fourth quarter. Credit to Monmouth for changing up their defense multiple times and keeping us on our toes. We won as a team and putting 5 people in double figures has been our goal all year. We are all very skilled and on any given night can have someone step up. The offensive flow tonight was something to be proud of. Gritty, tough, at some times ugly but I'm really proud that we pulled that out and got the team win!!!"

Knox returns to action as they host Lawrence on February 1.