GALESBURG, ILLINOIS – It was a record-setting day for Knox College women's basketball player Bria Medina, but it also may have been the best all-around team performance by the Prairie Fire women as well.
Knox College (9-10 overall, 7-3 in the Midwest Conference) faced SLIAC leader Webster University and won decisively, 83-53, at Memorial Gymnasium.
It was an especially memorable day for Medina, who became the program's all-time leading scorer. Needing 11 points to claim the record outright, Medina wasted little time, scoring her 11th point of the contest late in the first quarter. Medina padded her new program record, finishing the contest with a team-high 27 points.
Medina was not the only Prairie Fire player to have a memorable day. Both Nayele Nidez Acuña and Kylee Callahan recorded double-doubles. Nidez Acuña finished with 25 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, while Callahan added 13 points and 12 assists. Nidez Acuña also had career highs in assists (four) and blocks (three). Carly Smith nearly gave the Prairie Fire three players with double-doubles, just missing out with nine points and eight assists.
Knox dominated in about every way a team could, never trailing and leading for over 37 minutes. The Prairie outrebounded the Gorloks 55-32 and forced 16 turnovers, scoring 19 points off the errors. Knox also scored 56 points in the paint, 22 points off offensive rebounds, and 21 points in transition.
The Prairie Fire had a hot start to the contest, going 8-13 from the field (61.5 percent) to take a 21-14 lead after one. In the second, Knox amped up the pressure at both ends of the floor, hitting 6-12 shots from the field and 7-11 from the line while holding Webster to 1-14 from the field and 2-4 from the line in a 20-4 spurt that gave Knox a 41-18 lead at halftime. Knox continued to pour it on in the third quarter, outscoring Webster 25-13.
In the game, Knox went 31-57 (54.4 percent) from the field while holding the Gorloks to 20-76 (26.3 percent).
The Prairie Fire are back in action on Wednesday, visiting Cornell. Cornell topped Knox earlier this season. Knox is back at home on February 7, hosting Beloit at 3 p.m.
