APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University women's basketball team fell short late in the game Wednesday, and Knox College pulled out a 79-72 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.
    Knox scored eight consecutive points during a key stretch late in the fourth quarter, and that allowed the Prairie Fire to pull away for the win.
    Charlotte Brennan led Lawrence (6-2, 2-1 MWC) and all scorers with 20 points. Brennan went 4-for-7 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the foul line and added five rebounds and four assists. 
    Mallory Meyer added 17 points and five rebounds for the Vikings, and Maggie Culver had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists.
    Lawrence led by as many as seven points in the opening quarter, and Knox rallied in the second quarter to grab a 36-35 advantage at the half.
    Knox led 59-54 after three quarters and were down 62-56 before the Vikings rallied. Brennan hit a pair of free throws and followed that with a driving layup to trim the lead to two. Meyer followed with a layup to tie the game at 62-62 with 6:34 left in the contest.
    The Vikings then missed their next four shots from the floor and turned the ball over twice. That was enough for Knox to stretch the lead to 70-62 with 3:26 left. 
    Lydia Lueck countered for the Vikings with a 3-pointer, but Knox got an open layup to push the lead back to 72-65. Brennan then made two free throws, and Sophie Morey converted one of two free throws to cut Knox's lead to 72-68 with 1:01 left.
    Knox got a pair of free throws from Sarina Dacio before the Vikings missed a 3-pointer. Knox added two Kylee Callahan free throws to take a 76-68 lead with 16 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
    Loraya Rocha led Knox (6-2, 1-1) with 18 points.