BELOIT, Wis. — Sophomore Bria Medina, the reigning Midwest Conference Women's Basketball Performer of the Week, poured in 21 points — 17 in the first half — to lead Knox College (9-6, 4-2 MWC) to an 84-48 road victory at Beloit (2-15, 1-7 MWC) on Saturday afternoon. The Prairie Fire had five players score in double figures as they rolled to their fourth straight victory.
Kaelie Moreno was the Buccaneers' leading scorer with nine points as the Knox defense suffocated Beloit into shooting under 25 percent for the contest.
It did not take long for the Fire to take control at Flood Arena as first-year Nayeli Nidez Acuña (10 points in the game) provided the first two buckets and Medina the next four, the last one being part of a three-point play, to give Knox a 13-7 lead after six minutes. And with 3-pointers from junior Kylee Callahan (15) and fifth-year Sarina Dacio (11), the Prairie Fire had an 11-point lead at the end of the period, 21-10.
The scoring pace picked up a bit in the second quarter as Knox turned up the defensive pressure, forcing 11 turnovers in the stanza that led to 15 of the team's 28 points. The Buccaneers managed to knock down only three field goals in the quarter with the Prairie Fire taking a 49-22 lead into the intermission.
Beloit's accuracy did not improve in the third quarter as the team hit just 1-of-15 (.083) field goals as Knox continued to extend its lead. Fifth-year Haylee Carpenter (13) led the Prairie Fire offense with seven points in the period as she hit every shot she took. Both teams converted nine free throws over the 10-minute span as Knox grew its lead to as many as 38. The fourth quarter was merely academic with such a large lead as everyone on the Prairie Fire bench saw significant action.
- Knox finished the game with 19 steals, its most in a conference game since swiping the ball 22 times seven years ago, also against Beloit.
- Medina finished the game 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-5 at the foul line for her fourth 20-point game of the season and 10th of her career.
- With Callahan's 15 points, she surpassed 900 for her career and is on pace to become the fifth Prairie Fire player to surpass 1,000 in a career (and second this season)
- The most accurate free throw shooting team in the league at 75.7 percent, Knox continued that trend by converting 19-of-23 (.826) free throws, its fourth game over 80 percent this season.
The Prairie Fire return to Galesburg to host conference co-leader Cornell College (10-5, 6-1 MWC) on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Tip-off at Memorial Gymnasium is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with a live stream and stats available for the game through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College athletics.
