MOUNT VERNON – Freshman phenom Erin Knowles broke Cornell's single-season scoring record and the Rams rallied for a 76-67 women's basketball win over Knox in Saturday's battle for the final spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
The Rams (14-10 overall, 10-6 MWC) and Knox (15-10 overall, 10-6 MWC) split the regular-season series and finished tied for fourth place in the league standings.
 
The MWC Tournament berth boiled down to the final tiebreaker – a coin flip – conducted early Saturday evening in Grinnell. The coin flipped 'heads' and Cornell was awarded the postseason berth.
 
Coach Brent Brase's Rams earned the No. 4 seed and will face regular-season champion Ripon (21-4 overall, 15-1 MWC) in a semifinal at 5 p.m. Friday in Ripon, Wis. Grinnell and Lawrence meet in Friday's second semifinal at 7 p.m.
 
Knowles made history on an elbow jump shot with 6:35 left in the first quarter. The 6-foot-1 forward came through with her most impressive stat line of the season with 27 points and 18 rebounds, both highs as a Ram.
 
Knowles made 9-of-17 shots from the field and hit 9-of-10 free throws, all while staying on the floor with four fouls in the game-turning final quarter.
 
Knowles took down Cornell's long-standing scoring mark of 436 points, set by Hall of Famer Sherri Pettit in the 1987-88 season. Knowles concluded the regular season with 461 points, the most in the MWC.
 
The Rams mounted a big comeback after trailing by as many as 11 points in the third quarter. Cornell caught fire with a 32-point explosion in the fourth, highlighted by four 3-pointers and a 14-of-16 touch from the foul line.
 
Trailing 55-49, the Rams reeled off 17 unanswered points and charged ahead 66-55 with 2:17 remaining. Freshman Reagan Wells, who finished with 18 points, sank a 3-pointer that started the decisive four-minute run. Heidi Jorgensen and Tenley Cavanagh also buried 3-pointers that allowed Cornell to take control late.
 
Knowles and Wells netted 10 and seven points, respectively, in the fourth quarter, as the Rams outscored Knox, 32-18.
 
Jorgensen finished with 12 points. Wells collected six rebounds and six assists.
 
The Rams snapped a six-game series losing streak against Knox on Senior Day, which saw Cornell seniors Ilyana Caceres, Victoria Saucedo and Mia Murray honored after the contest.