GRINNELL, Iowa – The Prairie Fire women’s basketball team rebounded in a major way on Tuesday night with a 74-62 victory over Grinnell.
Knox (16-7, 11-4 MWC) picked up their 11th conference win of the season, the most in program history. The Prairie Fire dominated the Pioneers in the first half, scoring 44 points.
Knox jumped out to a 13-3 lead midway through the first quarter and led 22-15 heading into the second quarter. Grinnell cut the deficit to four by hitting a trey less than 20 seconds into the second quarter, but Knox reeled off nine straight points to take a 13-point lead. Heading into halftime, the Prairie Fire held a 44-25 advantage. Knox held the Pioneers at bay for much of the third quarter, but Grinnell started chipping away at the lead in the final minutes of the stanza. The Prairie Fire took a 59-44 lead into the final period. Knox again kept their lead intact in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Pioneers would not go down without a fight. With 4:23 to play, Grinnell cut the deficit to 11 points. However, the Pioneers would get no closer and the Prairie Fire held on for the 12-point victory.
Kyra Huffman and Morgan Potter led Knox with 16 points apiece. Huffman pulled down nine boards and Potter finished with eight rebounds of her own. Hailey Leinart poured in 15 points, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jarrelyn McCall earned the double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. She also dished out seven assists. Taliah Ellis rounded out the scoring with 11 points.
The Prairie Fire will travel to Ripon on February 17 in what could be a preview of the matchup they will see in the opening round of the conference tournament.
GRINNELL, Iowa – The Prairie Fire men’s basketball team came out on the losing end of a rematch against Grinnell on Tuesday night.
Knox (7-17, 5-12 MWC) defeated Grinnell last week by holding them to 93 points on 69 shots attempts, both among their lowest totals of the season. The shots were falling this time as the Pioneers hit 42.7% of their shots, including 39.2% from long-range.
The Prairie Fire led 4-0 early, but Grinnell got hot and made three straight treys to take a 9-4 lead. The Pioneers missed a three and then made three in a row again to take a 12-point lead. Grinnell led by double digits until midway through the first half, when Knox went on a run of their own. The Prairie Fire cut the deficit to four by outscoring the Pioneers 12-3 from the 12:12 mark to 9:35. Grinnell shot the lights out over the next nine minutes to take a 55-38 lead into halftime. Knox was not able to gain any ground in the second half and picked up the loss.
Blake Godbold led the Prairie Fire with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Thompson added 15 points and the trio of Jonathan Damota, DJ Lewis, and Bryce Wilkinson each poured in 10. Damota also grabbed seven boards.
Knox will look to finish the season with a victory when they travel to Ripon on February 17.
