MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Knox College women's basketball team took out the frustration from dropping its previous two games to the top two teams in the Midwest Conference by finishing off a season sweep of Monmouth. The Prairie Fire (13-9, 8-5 MWC) defeated the host Fighting Scots (5-17, 2-11 MWC) by a 97-65 score on Tuesday evening at Glennie Gymnasium.

Knox's two leading scorers, first-year Nayeli Nidez Acuña (19 points) and sophomore Bria Medina (16), both fouled out with more than five minutes to play, but the game had been long decided. Also in double figures were fifth-year Sarina Dacio with 15 points — as well as career highs of nine rebounds and eight steals — and junior Kylee Callahan with 14.

The Prairie Fire jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a pair of buckets by Nidez Acuña and two free throws by Medina, and they were never seriously threatened throughout the game. The first double-digit difference came before even five minutes had elapsed at 16-6, and by the end of the opening quarter Knox held a 13-point advantage, 29-16, with Nidez Acuña already boasting 10 points.

Fifth-year Haylee Carpenter made her mark in the second quarter, scoring eight straight points ending with back-to-back 3-pointers, making it a 41-24 contest. An Izzy Robinson layup boosted the lead to 20 points for the first time, 46-26, with more than four minutes left in the half, and fifth-year Mae Callahan made sure the lead remained at 20, popping a triple in the final seconds before the intermission for a 53-33 Prairie Fire lead at the break.

The two teams played close to a draw in the third quarter with Knox extending its lead to 21, 74-53, though Monmouth did get within 14 midway through the period. And in the fourth quarter, it was sophomore Sarah Finley who pushed the Prairie Fire lead past 30 points with a bucket in the paint and two free throws to complete the scoring on the night.

• Knox shot just below 50 percent for the game (37-of-75, .493) with Nidez Acuña going 7-of--9 from the floor.
• The Prairie Fire won the battle of the boards as well, 47-32.
• Dacio's eight steals are the most by any Midwest Conference player this season, and the most by a Knox player since Catessa Duran had eight against Westminster College on Dec. 12, 2022.
• Ten of the 11 Prairie Fire players had at least one field goal.

Knox, which moved into a tie for fourth place in the MWC standings with Cornell College's loss at Ripon tonight, return to Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday for Senior Day as the Prairie Fire host Beloit College (2-20, 1-12 MWC) at 1 p.m. A live stream and stats for the game will be available through the official website of Knox College athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.