Tolono Unity’s Elyce Knudsen broke former Purdue standout and NBA star Brian Cardinal’s school scoring record and the Lady Rockets beat Monticello 53-43 in Illini Prairie Conference girls basketball action Monday night at the Rocket Center at Unity High School. 

Knudsen’s record-breaking basketball came as a part of a 9-0 start to the second half for the Lady Rockets, when they rallied to overcome a 28-22 halftime deficit. The basket brought Unity within two, at 28-26. 

The Lady Rockets senior was shadowed all night long as part of a triangle-in-two where she was double-teamed for three quarters, managing to score 17 of her game-high 23 while being doubled.

While Knudsen was the star of the night, Maddie Reed scored 11 of her 14 points in the second half and her shot-making broke the Lady Sages out of the triangle-in-two and allowed Unity to hold on for the win.

The pivotal stretch for Unity came in the third quarter when they outscored Monticello 17-4. 

Cloe Clark and Jayna Burger each scored 12 points for the Lady Sages and Renni Fultz added 11 points. 

Monticello drops to 12-15 while Unity improves 19-8. 

Hear more Monticello girl’s basketball next Monday night when the Lady Sages begin postseason play at Maroa-Forsyth for a Regional quarterfinal matchup with the Lady Trojans for  6 pm tip. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.