SOMERS, Wis. - Freshman Shelbi Patterson (Indianapolis, Ind.) led three Prairie Stars in double-figures with 11 points in the University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team's 71-48 loss to Wisconsin-Parkside Thursday evening at DeSimone Gymnasium.

The Rangers have now won four straight and are 4-2 in conference play. With the loss, the Prairie Stars are now 5-8 overall and 1-4 in the GLVC looking towards Saturday's matchup with No. 1 Lewis.

Patterson was very efficient for the visiting Prairie Stars on Thursday, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with three assists and only one turnover. It was her second consecutive game with 11 points. Junior Jessica Warren (University Park, Ill.) added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with seven boards and a block. Sophomore Syerra Cunningham (Beach Park, Ill.) rounded out the double-digit scoring efforst with 10 points and nine rebounds.

UIS fell into a hole early in the first half and was never able to recover as the hosts opened the game on a 19-2 run and led 38-16 at the break. Parkside connected on six three-point shots while UIS made none in the period. A season-high 15 first-half turnovers hurt the Prairie Stars early on as Parkside took 12 more shots than the Prairie Stars in the half (31-19).

The second half was a different story. Three straight buckets, including two from sophomore Caroline Kelty (River Forest, Ill.) cut the deficit to 11 at the 14:17 minute-mark. With the score 47-35 just minutes later, the Rangers put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run, eventually stretching their lead to as many as 25 late in the game. The Prairie Stars went toe-to-toe with Parkside in the second stanza, scoring 32 points to the Rangers' 33.

Parkside's Stephanie Furr led all scorers with 14 points. Senior Gaby Bronson scored 12 points to go with six boards and five assists. The Rangers' bench outscored the UIS bench 36-6 in the game.

The Prairie Stars are back in action on Saturday against the top-ranked team in the nation in Lewis. Game time is set for 1 p.m.