By: Despite combining for 50 points, Melissa Solorio and Brielle Greenleaf didn’t get enough help from their teammates as Knox scored a 71-63 victory.
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. -
Melissa Solorio scored 28 and
Brielle Greenleaf added 22 for Illinois College, but it was not enough as Knox College stole a win on the road, 71-63. The Prairie Fire improve to 12-6 (9-4 Midwest Conference). The Lady Blues drop to 10-8 (7-6 MWC) and fall two games behind Knox in the race for the MWC Tournament.
Knox's Jarrelyn McCall started off the evening with a 10-foot jumper less than a minute into the contest to give the Prairie Fire an early 2-0 lead. Solorio knotted the game up at 2-2 with a short jumper to put the Lady Blues on the board. After a
Mickalah York layup gave Illinois College a 4-2 advantage, Morgan Potter nailed the first of her three field goals in the half, sparking a 9-0 run as Knox reclaimed and stretched the lead to 11-4 with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter. Solorio contributed 9 of her 13 first-half points in the frame for IC, but the Prairie Fire took a 21-15 lead into the second quarter.
Solorio dropped the first four points of the quarter for Illinois College in the second quarter, with Greenleaf following with a three-pointer to pull within one, 23-22, early in the frame. Karlie Thorn drained a three-pointer to start a 6-0 Knox run, increasing its lead to 29-22. The Lady Blues were able to pull within three after a
Shannen Quehl free throw with just under four minutes remaining in the half. Knox proceeded to put together another 9-0 run, capped off with a Naja Woods layup with just over a minute left, as Knox led 38-26. Greenleaf hit her third three of the half to bring the score to 38-29 heading into halftime.
The Prairie Fire got things rolling in the second half with two Potter free throws, increasing the lead to 40-29.
McKenzie Skaggs provided two points from the charity stripe to bring the deficit back to nine, 40-31, with just under seven minutes remaining in the third. A three-pointer from Greenleaf pulled IC within six, 42-36, with four minutes left in the quarter. That was the closest the Lady Blues could come to Knox the rest of the way, as a Karlie Thorn jumper gave the Prairie Fire a 17-point lead, its largest of the game, with just under a minute remaining. Greenleaf sunk a 15-footer to send the Lady Blues into the fourth down 15 points, 55-40.
McCall laid it in early in the fourth to extend Knox's lead back to 17, 57-40. Solorio and Greenleaf tag-teamed to cut down the Prairie Fire's lead throughout the quarter, with
Jaicie Halleman draining a three-pointer to pull within seven, 67-60, with 21 seconds left. After four made free throws from Knox's Hailey Leinart, Solorio drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer to cap off her season-high points performance.
Besides Solorio and Greenleaf, no player for the Lady Blues scored more than three points. Potter led the Prairie Fire with 18 points and Thorn added 15 in the Knox victory.
The Lady Blues take the floor on Feb. 4 against Grinnell College. Tip is set for 1:00 p.m. in Sherman Gymnasium.
