The Monmouth College women’s basketball team never led on Saturday afternoon in an 86-52 loss at Knox. The Fighting Scots (2-5, 0-2) are back in action next Saturday at home against Lawrence.
Knox scored on their first possession and sprinted out to a 7-0 lead before Ella Goodrich (Minonk, Illinois) scored seven straight points to tie the game. Knox hit a 3-pointer to key a 10-0 run before Tiah Riggs (Vincennes, Indiana) scored. Hannah Peel (Gladwin, Michigan) got on the board with a layup but Knox scored the final 10 points of the quarter to lead 27-11.
The Prairie Fire scored the first 10 points of the second quarter for an overall 20-0 run before Brooklyn Sellers (Freeport, Illinois) made a free throw with 7:07 left in the half. Kynlee Stearns (Gilson, Illinois) scored before Knox pushed the lead to 42-14. Stearns made a free throw and Averi Rangel (Moline, Illinois) hit a pair of 3-pointers. Sellers cut the lead to 19 but Knox scored again to lead 47-25 at halftime.
Down 28, Goodrich scored in the paint and Rangel hit a 3-pointer. Knox went on a 8-2 run to lead 65-34 before Kiersten Cox (Illinois City, Illinois) scored five straight points. Goodrich made three free throws and Knox led 69-42 after three quarters.
Rangel and Jamaica Walker (Mobile, Alabama) scored to start the fourth quarter but Knox went on a 15-0 run to lead 85-46. Walker scored again but a 3-pointer put the hosts up by 40. Riggs and Ava Borchardt (Harvard, Illinois) scored the final four points of the game for the 88-52 final score.
Goodrich led the Scots with 13 points while Rangel added 11 on three made 3-pointers. Sellers led the Scots with nine rebounds, two more than Goodrich, and Stearns had three steals.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Sellers had a season-high nine rebounds … Goodrich scored in double figures for the fifth time this season … Rangel moved into 15th on the Monmouth career 3pt attempts list while Stearns moved into the top 20 … Riggs had a career-best two steals while Peel had a season-best two blocks … Monmouth leads the all-time series 62-45 but Knox is 7-3 in the last 10 … Knox has won seven straight in the series dating back to the 2022 MWC Tournament when the Scots won 57-48 in Ripon … That’s the longest streak by either school since Monmouth won 25 in a row from 2002-2015 … The teams play in Monmouth on Feb. 11 … The Scots are back home next Saturday to host Lawrence.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
