The Monmouth College women’s basketball team fell at home on Tuesday 97-65 to Knox. The Fighting Scots (5-17, 2-11) got a career-high 24 points from Ashley Jones (Abingdon, Illinois) while Ella Goodrich (Minonk, Illinois) tied a single-game school record with 20 free throw attempts.
Knox scored the first six points before Delaney Scheidenhelm (New Berlin, Illinois) hit a layup on a feed from Kynlee Stearns (Gilson, Illinois). Jones scored four straight before Knox took a 16-6 lead. Madi Finch (Aledo, Illinois) scored the next two Monmouth baskets and Allie Hoy (Woodland, Illinois) hit two free throws to cut the Knox lead to 19-12. Jones scored again and hit two free throws but Knox pushed the lead to 13 at the ended of the quarter.
Stearns and Jones both made layups early in the second quarter but Knox led by as many as 17 in the first three minutes. Stearns hit a 3-pointer and cut the lead to 11 at 35-24. Knox scored the next six points before Goodrich scored in the paint. Knox led by 20 when Goodrich made two free throws and Averi Rangel (Moline, Illinois) knocked down a 3-pointer. Goodrich split free throws on two trips but Knox led 53-33 at halftime.
Rangel hit a 3-pointer on Monmouth’s second possession of the half but Knox pushed the lead to 58-36. Monmouth responded with a 7-0 run, four points from Goodrich and three from Jones. Stearns made a free throw and Jones connected on a layup as the Scots pulled within 14. Knox went on a 9-0 run before Jones made two free throws and Finch went coast-to-coast for a layup. FInch and Goodrich added free throws and Knox led 74-53 after three quarters.
Jones scored four quick points in the fourth before Knox hit a pair of 3-pointers and added a layup. Down 84-57, Jones scored again to set a new career high with 24 points. Stearns added a layup and Goodrich made another free throw as Knox led by 26. She added two more free throws but Monmouth went the final 6:57 without a field goal in the 96-65 loss.
Jones led the way with 24 points while Goodrich added 15. Goodrichl had eight rebounds while Stearns and Rangel had three assists each. Jones led the team with two blocks while three players had two steals each.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Jones scored a career-high 24, two more than she had against Dominican in November … Jones has scored in double figures 18 times this season, including nine straight games … Jones moved into the top 25 in scoring in Monmouth history, passing Kaitlyn Osmulski (2018-22) at 691 points … She also moved into 10th on the single-season blocks list with 26Goodrich has scored at least 10 points in a game eight times this season … Goodrich set a season and career high with 13 made free throws … The 13 made free throws are tied for the third-most in a game in school history … The 20 free throw attempts ties the school record set by Kim Kelly in 1978 … Monmouth leads the all-time series 62-44 but Knox is 7-3 in the last 10 … Knox has won six straight in the series dating back to the 2022 MWC Tournament when the Scots won 57-48 in Ripon … Knox won the first matchup 81-53 in Galesburg 10 days ago … The Scots are at Ripon at 1 p.m. on Saturday and back home on Wednesday witha 5:30 p.m. game against Cornell.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
