JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Sophomore Nayeli Nidez Acuña led the Knox College women's basketball team with a career-high 28 points and the Prairie Fire held off host Illinois College on Tuesday night at Sherman Gymnasium to begin Midwest Conference play with an 86-74 victory. All five starters scored in double figures for Knox (2-3, 1-0 MWC), which won its second straight game, while the Lady Blues dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the league.

When senior Kylee Callahan dropped in a layup with 7:11 to play, the Prairie Fire were in control with a 16-point lead at 69-53. But foul trouble sent junior Bria Medina — the third-leading scorer in Division III — to the bench, and Nidez Acuña joined her there after picking up three fouls in a 15-second span. By the time Medina returned with three minutes remaining, the lead was down to four, 70-66.

With 1:46 on the clock, Kallie Oestreicher, who led Illinois College with 19 points, drilled a 3-pointer to suddenly close the gap to one at 72-71. The Lady Blues had a chance to take their first lead since the first quarter after an offensive foul, but the Knox defense forced a missed shot. The next six points went to the Prairie Fire with Callahan sinking two foul shots, and Medina providing a layup followed by two free throws. Knox continued to convert at the line down the stretch, and even though Medina fouled out, the Fire sealed the victory at the charity stripe, ending the game hitting 88.0 percent (22-of-25).

After the Prairie Fire ended the first quarter with a slim 14-12 advantage, their offense exploded in the second quarter for 30 points on 11-of-15 field goals to enter the intermission with a 44-26 lead. Nidez Acuña led all players with 16 points at the break.

In the third quarter, the Knox led was still at 18 with two minutes left in the period, but Kyle Rakers fueled a 12-2 Lady Blues run, starting it off with three points the hard way and capping it with a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit down to eight. Medina made sure the lead was back into double digits before the start of the fourth quarter, however, canning a floating jumper in the lane to make it 59-49. 

• Nidez Acuña was 10-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-9 at the line to account for her 28 points, plus grabbed nine rebounds as Knox held a sizable 50-31 advantage on the glass.
• Medina, averaging 28.5 points entering the game, was held to a mere 20 points on 7-of-12 field goals with a 3-pointer and 5-of-6 free throws while hauling in a season-high eight rebounds.
• Joining those two in double figures were Callahan (13), senior Carly Smith (12) and sophomore Izzy Robinson (11), with Smith also snagging 10 rebounds for a double-double and season highs in both points and rebounds.
• As a team, Knox hit 47.0 percent from the floor (31-of-66) while holding the Lady Blues to 36.4 percent (24-of-66).
• The Prairie Fire have won the last four meetings between the two and nine of the last 10.

Knox will return to action next Tuesday, Dec. 2, when it hosts undefeated Lawrence University (5-0, 0-0 MWC) at Memorial Gymnasium in the Vikings' conference opener at 7:30 p.m. The game will be live streamed with stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.