By: Ira Moore
GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire women’s basketball team beat Cornell 61-42 on Saturday. This means that Knox is currently on an 8 game winning streak, tied for the longest in school history.
The Prairie Fire started off on a roll with a great first quarter performance, they led 16-5 after the first. The Fire really showcased their defensive abilities holding the Rams to 2-for-14 from the field, it was complete domination.
Quarters two and three were fairly even and going into the fourth quarter the score was 47-33 in favor of the Fire. Once again the defensive prowess of Knox came into play, they only allowed Cornell to score nine points in the entire quarter, it was a strong finish that put the exclamation point on a great team victory.
Jessica Lee led Knox in scoring with 12 although the MVP of the game would have to go to Kristin Herndon, she scored 11 points while adding nine rebounds and four blocks. She was tasked with the tough job of guarding Madison Wauters in the paint and she excelled, not only on the defensive side but on the offensive side as well.
"First I want to thank the spectators that came out today for the first time since Christmas break to watch us play," said head coach Kira Mowen. "Our team is grateful and thankful to everyone for being back in the stands and cheering us on, I know that really helps and feels great to play in front of a home crowd. In terms of production today we had people make plays in a timely fashion and it helped propel us to a victory that we never looked back on. This team surprises me every game and again we are coming together at a great time. It is great to tie the school record winning streak, but we still have more work to do."
The Prairie Fire’s next game will be at Cornell in just two days, as the season is winding down.