GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire women's basketball team dropped a close 66-64 game to Beloit on Sunday afternoon.

Knox scored the first six points of the game to take an early lead in the first quarter. The Buccaneers stormed back with 10 straight points to take a 10-6 lead. The Prairie Fire used a 10-5 run to take a 16-15 advantage after one period.

Beloit took over in the second quarter, building up an 11 point lead. The Buccaneers took a 36-28 lead into halftime.

Knox chipped away at the lead in the third quarter to bring the game within three, but Beloit rallied to take a 50-39 lead heading into the final period.

The Prairie Fire used a 14-2 run to begin the fourth quarter to take their first lead since early in the second quarter. The teams battled back and forth over the remaining four minutes with a three-pointer by Sarina Dacio giving Knox the 62-60 lead with 41 seconds remaining. The Buccaneers took the lead on a three-point play with 19 second left. Loraya Rocha grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to put the Prairie Fire on top 64-63 with 0.5 seconds left in the game. However, Beloit was able to draw a three-shot foul with 0.1 seconds left and hit all three free throws to seal the win.

Bria Medina led Knox with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Dacio tallied 17 points and Nyah Daniels added 12 points and nine rebounds. Rocha hauled in 10 boards as well.

"We put ourselves in a tough position today," said head coach Seth McDowell. "We made a heroic comeback with some great clutch shots, but also made a few more mistakes late that helped keep Beloit in the game. Credit to them for taking advantage and executing when it mattered most. Beloit is very capable of giving everyone in our league a good game and they definitely showed it today."

The Prairie Fire will return to action on January 17 as they travel to Cornell.