By: The Prairie Fire extended a five-point halftime lead out to 13 by the end of the third quarter and held on for a 77-63 win.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College women's basketball team couldn't replicate the formula that led to a 24-point victory at home over Knox in December, falling to the Prairie Fire by a score of 77-63 on Wednesday night on the road.
Jaicie Halleman set a new career high with 16 points, but the Lady Blues couldn't find the range for much of the night. Knox improved to 8-6 (3-6 Midwest Conference), while IC fell to 9-6 (6-4 MWC) for the season.
After falling into a 5-0 hole to start out the game, Illinois College came back to tie the score at 5-5 on a
Shannen Quehl jumper and three straight points from
Jill Friedrich. Hailey Leinart again put the Prairie Fire out in front with a three-ball, but
Sydney Lett scored to bring the Lady Blues back within one and Halleman made the first of four three-pointers on the night to stake IC to a 10-8 lead halfway through the first quarter. Illinois College would hold the lead much of the quarter, until a Saundra Gavazzi three-point play in the final minute gave the Prairie Fire a 16-14 lead after one. Knox would not trail the rest of the way.
The Prairie Fire began to creep away in the second quarter.
Ashley Hoegger scored to cut IC's deficit to 24-22 with six minutes remaining in the half, but Knox put the next five points up on the board to take a 29-22 lead. The advantage for the Prairie Fire was still seven late in the half until Friedrich was fouled on a three-point attempt with one second remaining, knocking down two of her free throws to make it 36-31 at the break.
Consecutive three-pointers by Naja Woods and Karlie Thorn put Knox ahead by double-digits for the first time with only 75 seconds gone in the third quarter. Friedrich scored Illinois College's first points of the half with a little over two minutes elapsed in the quarter but it would be nearly four minutes before the Lady Blues would score again. IC remained close to Knox for much of the quarter, but Thorn made another three-pointer just before the horn to give her home side a 59-46 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
A 9-2 run by Knox to start the fourth quarter opened up a 66-48 edge, the largest lead of the night, with 6:53 remaining.
Mallory Battefeld tried to spark the Lady Blues with four straight points and Friedrich followed with five of her own for a 9-0 run that cut the deficit in half, but the Prairie Fire responded to that challenge with a 6-0 run of their own, building the lead back to 15. By that time, less than five minutes remained and IC would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Joining Halleman in double-figures for Illinois College were
Hanna Bergkoetter with 10 points and seven rebounds and three blocks, as well as Friedrich with a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards. Friedrich added two assists and a pair of steals.
The Lady Blues will try to avoid a two-game slide on Jan. 23 as they face a second straight road matchup, this time traveling to Carroll University for a 3 p.m. start.
