GALESBURG, Ill. (November 12, 2021) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team used a strong 21-7 fourth quarter to pull away from Knox College en route to a season-opening 57-44 road victory over the Prairie Fire on Friday night.

Freshman Mallory McCall provided a boost off the bench by scoring a career-high 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds while sophomore Vanessa Hamlett, the team's only returning starter, adding 11 points and 13 boards.  Freshman Taylor Krager also had a strong debut by chipping in with nine points, including a pair of three-point buckets, to go along with a team-best three steals.

The game was tied at 13-13 after one quarter and despite shooting just 3-of-10 from the field in the second quarter, the Beavers held a slim 23-22 lead at the half.  The Beavers began to heat up a bit from the field in the second half, shooting better than 40 percent in the third quarter despite trailing 37-36 and then made 7-of-14 attempts to close out the game in the final period.

BVU went to the free-throw line 25 times compared to only eight attempts from Knox, but the Beavers struggled from the charity stripe, making 11-of-25.  It was a defensive battle throughout as the two teams combined for 57 turnovers.

Buena Vista will look to begin the year with back-to-back wins as it plays at Monmouth to close out the road trip on Saturday afternoon.  Tip-off with the Scots is set for 3:00 p.m.