Fulton, Mo 11/12/2023- The Westminster College women's basketball team hosted the Knox Prairie Fire in the home opener. It would take three overtimes to determine a winner in what was a thrilling back-and-forth game. Knox would outscore the Blue Jays 13-4 in the third overtime and won the game with a final score of 114-105. The Prairie Fire improved to 2-0 on the young season and the Blue Jays fell to 1-1. 

The Blue Jays would have five different players score double figures. Reigning SLIAC Player of the Year, Annette Ramirez, led the Blue Jays with 34 points, going 10-30 from the field and 11-15 from the free throw line. She would have 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the game. Senior, Avylina Powell-Qualo, had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists. Olivia Hixson scored 13 points, hitting 3 three-pointers in the game. She also had 6 rebounds and an assist. Aleah Wilmsmeyer had twelve points off the bench. Caragan Lockard had 10 points and 8 rebounds off the bench as well. 

There would be 16 lead changes and 13 ties in the game. Knox led by 12 points at one point in the game for the largest lead of the game. The Blue Jays' largest lead would be 5 points. Westminster shot 36% from the field, going 36-100 and 12-37 from behind the arc. Knox shot 44% going 39-88 from the field and 2-10 from three. The rebounding battle was even with the Prairie Fire grabbing 63 rebounds and the Blue Jays pulling down 62 boards. The free throw line is what really made the difference. Knox was 34-48 from the charity strip and Westminster went 21-28 from the line. 

The Blue Jays will be back in action on Friday, November 17th when they travel to Greenville, Illinois for the weekend to compete in the Greenville Tournament. They will take on Illinois College at 6:00 p.m.