The Prairie Fire women's basketball team defeated Beloit 71-57 on Saturday. Before the game, Knox honored their seven seniors: Jodi Gormley, MadiBunger, Catessa Duran, Kesha Jackson, Kristin Herndon, Nyah Daniels, and manager Kaylyn Spencer. The senior class has been instrumental in leading the program to their program record 19th win with two games left to play before the conference tournament.
The Prairie Fire took an early 7-2 lead, but the Buccaneers came back to tie the game 8-8. Knox finished on a 9-0 run to take a 17-8 lead at the end of the first period.
Beloit scored first in the second period, but Knox soon pulled away further and led 32-18 at halftime.
The Prairie Fire really turned it on in the third quarter, outscoring the Buccaneers 24-14 to take a commanding lead.
Beloit finished the game with 25 points in the fourth period, but it was too late to make a comeback.
Kylee Callahan led a balanced attack for Knox with 12 points. Sophie Elstone added eight points and SarinaDacio scored seven points and hauled in six rebounds.
"Senior day was a success! Not only did every senior start and or play but also every player on the team got into the game," said head coach Kira Mowen. "There are still areas of the game that we need to clean up, turnovers being one of them. But we have two days of practice to focus on those heading into Illinois College. Super proud of these seniors, they have left a huge mark on our program that will be noticed for years to come. This is an amazing group of women who since last year have fully bought in and set new standards that our culture as Knox women's basketball can now live on. Join us Tuesday night for our Think Pink game."
The Prairie Fire return to action on February 14 as they host Illinois College.