APPLETON, Wis. — The Knox College women’s basketball team blew out to a big early lead Saturday but had to hang on for a 73-66 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University at Alexander Gymnasium.
Patsy Kealey led Lawrence with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds as four Vikings scored in double figures. Andrea Wilkinson also had a double-double for the Vikings with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Liz Arco and Lauren Deveikis added 11 points apiece for Lawrence, and Arco picked up four blocks.
Jamie Blue also had a double-double for Knox (9-6, 4-6 MWC) with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Naja Woods added 17 points.
Knox scored the first 16 points of the game and led 24-10 after the first quarter. The Vikings were still down by 15 when they stormed back in the final eight minutes of the second quarter.
Lawrence (0-16, 0-11) went on a 16-4 run to trim the margin to 35-32 with 1:32 left before the half. Arco scored the first six points of the run, and Kealey scored six points during that stretch. Knox would lead 39-34 at the half.
The Vikings trimmed the lead 41-40 on Deveikis’ jumper early in the third quarter, but Knox scored the game’s next nine points to stretch the lead back to 50-40. Lawrence finished the third quarter on a 12-5 run, capped by Leah Reeves’ layup, to cut the margin to 55-52 after three.
Knox pushed the lead back to eight at 64-56, but the Vikings scored the next eight points, capped by Deveikis’ 3-pointer, to tie the game at 64-64 with 2:59 left. Knox then scored the next six points to stretch the lead to 70-64, and the Vikings got no closer than four points after that.