APPLETON, Wis. -- The Knox College women's basketball team rallied from a 14-point first half deficit and held on for a 54-50 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday afternoon at Alexander Gymnasium.
Laura Aerts poured in 23 points to pace Lawrence (2-17, 0-13 MWC), and she added seven rebounds and six steals. Kanesha Walker added 13 points, and Nakita Chadwick had a game-high 10 rebounds for the Vikings.
Krystyna Williams paced Knox (9-10, 4-8) with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Lawrence got off to a hot start on both ends of the court. The Vikings held Knox scoreless for the first 4:23 of the game, and the Vikings led by double digits at 14-4 after Aerts nailed a 3-pointer with 11:47 left.
The Vikings' biggest lead was 18-4 after Chadwick's layup with 9:13 left in the opening half. Knox finally responded by scoring the game's next 13 points to trim the margin to 18-17 with 4:24 left. Lawrence recovered and led 28-25 at the break.
Lawrence led by as many as eight points early in the second half, but Knox chipped away at the advantage and took its first lead at 41-40 on Kelly Ricketts' jumper with 5:55 left.
The teams traded the lead before Knox scored eight straight points, four apiece by Williams and Jenny Haskell, to take a 51-44 lead with 44 seconds left. Lawrence got no closer than the final margin.
The Vikings return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Silver Lake College for a nonconference game.