Kristin Herndon and the Knox College Prairie Fire ran the table in their conference tournament and clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth in school history. They will play Friday against an opponent that is to be determined.
Previously, the Prairie Fire had an opportunity to win the conference title outright. However, they had to go to Ripon College and win on the road, and they lost by ten and had to share the title. Since both teams split in the regular season, the location of the conference tournament was determined by a coin flip, and Knox had to travel to Ripon to win two games to get their ticket to the tournament.
Prairie Fire 77, Cornell College 54
Some teams you want to play after a loss, because they are still hung over and thinking about what might have been. Other teams you don’t want to play after a loss, because they treat it as a wakeup call and use it as a springboard to bigger and better things. Knox has always been one of the latter teams and has used each one of their losses as a wakeup call.
Throughout the season, the Prairie Fire have had players come totally out of the woodworks and step up when they were needed. Kristin Herndon had her usual output, with 16 points and 5 boards. This time, it was little-used Haylee Carpenter who came off the bench and came through in a big way, putting up 18 points and 6 three-pointers. Two other players were in double figures as Catessa Duran had 12 and Juliana Vinluan had 10. Two more finished just below double digits as Sophie Elstone had 9 and Kylee Callahan had 8. Carpenter was a bright spot in the Ripon loss and she made the most of her chance.
The ball movement was sharp as there were 23 assists and 11 turnovers. Juliana Vinluan had 7 assists while Sophie Elstone and Catessa Duran had 6 each. The Prairie Fire dominated in the paint 42-20 and outrebounded Cornell 34-21.
It was back to back jacks by Carpenter that put the Prairie Fire up 16-9 after one quarter. The Prairie Fire led by as much as 13 in the second quarter, but a late rally by Cornell, taking advantage of a couple of turnovers, cut the deficit to 36-30 at the half. Knox led by as much as 16 in the third quarter after Carpenter’s 3-pointer with 1:21 left, but once again, Cornell fought back, cutting it to 53-42 by the end of the third.
Another triple by Carpenter put the Prairie Fire up 62-46 at the 7:42 mark of the fourth. Cornell fought their way back to 13 at the 6:41 mark of the period and there was reason to worry as Herndon picked up her fourth foul and came out. But it turned out not to matter as Haylee Carpenter’s sixth triple was too much for Cornell, and the Prairie Fire closed the game with a 15-5 run.
Prairie Fire 64, Ripon 61
Despite getting killed on the boards, the Prairie Fire somehow came back and won the rubber match between the two squads. They were killed on the boards 38-25. But they won the battle of the paint 40-26. The game showed Kristin Herndon at her finest; with the team struggling from the field, she shot 8 for 9 and had 16 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks. The difference was the team’s shot percentage in the first and second halves. In the first half, the Prairie Fire shot 11 for 29, including 3 for 12 in the second quarter, and fell behind 32-26. They were very fortunate to be down six at the half. But the second half showed them fighting back and shooting 50% in the third and 57% in the fourth; unlike the last time they played Ripon, they were able to complete the comeback.
By contrast, Ripon, after shooting 50% in the second quarter, shot 37% in the third and 23% in the fourth. They went to the line 10 times in the second quarter, when they seemingly took control of the game, but only 5 times in the third quarter and twice in the fourth.
The game started off well for Knox; after the game was tied at 4 and 6, shots by Kristin Herndon and Catessa Duran put Knox up 16-10 after one. But by the 5:36 mark of the second quarter, ice cold shooting took its toll and the lead was gone.
All hell threatened to break loose in the second quarter as Ripon started heating up, getting triples from Breanna Miller, Abi Payne, and Bella Opelt to lead by as much as 29-19 at the 2:12 mark before Knox started coming back. A three point play by Catessa Duran, a steal by Sophie Elstone, and a layup from Kylee Callahan cut it to 29-24, and the deficit was 32-26 at the half.
Herndon hit a shot to cut it to four early in the third, but the game once again threatened to get away from Knox as Bonnie Jensen got the hot hand for Ripon and a triple by Bella Opelt put them up 42-28 at the 6:42 mark of the third.
But the Prairie Fire started chipping away behind Herndon and Juliana Vinluan and the deficit came down to 46-38 by the 2:48 mark of the third quarter. Finally, Kylee Callahan hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the third and somehow, Knox was still very much part of the game, down 49-44 after three.
Alison Leslie’s 3-pointer built the Ripon lead back up to 8 at the start of the fourth, and it stayed that way for a time. But then Knox started attacking the paint and got two from Juliana Vinluan and four from Kristin Herndon to cut it to 54-52 by the 6:52 mark. Skyylar Brescia’s layup temporarily stopped the bleeding for Ripon, but then baskets by Herndon and Sophie Elstone knotted it up at 56 at the 4:37 mark.
The score was stuck at 56 for the next three minutes until Catessa Duran finally broke the tie with 1:28 left to put the Prairie Fire up 58-56. Bonnie Jensen knotted it up with 58 seconds left at the line, but Kristin Herndon put back Kylee Callahan’s missed layup attempt with 43 seconds left to break the tie and put Knox up 60-58.
Herndon missed a try for a three point play, but with 31 seconds, the Prairie Fire got the ball back off a turnover and Ripon had to foul. This time, Kylee Callahan made both free throws with 25 seconds left to make it 62-58.
But the game was not over; with 16 seconds left, Kristin Herndon blocked Bella Opelt’s 3-pointer but Ripon got the board and got it to Opelt, who connected with 12 seconds left to make it 62-61. Kylee Callahan made both her free throws to make it 64-61 to make it 4 for 4 from the line in the last minute, and Ripon missed two game-tying triples at the end.
The paint was the key to Knox being able to complete their comeback against Ripon. After the points in the paint were almost even in the first three quarters, Knox outscored Ripon 14-4 in the paint in the fourth.
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