LEBANON, IL - Sophomore Shelbi Patterson (Indianapolis, Ind. scored a team-high 14 points in the University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team's 75-57 loss to Hillsdale Friday evening at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover.

Patterson led the Prairie Stars with 14 points, four assists, two steals and a block. Junior Caroline Kelty (River Forest, Ill.) chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor while junior Syerra Cunningham (Beach Park, Ill.) pulled down eight rebounds in just 11 minutes of action.

Friday's game was the first official game for the Prairie Stars under the NCAA's new women's basketball rules. Instead of playing two halves, the game consists of four quarters to go along with several rule changes pertaining to timeouts.

In its opening game of the season, UIS traded buckets with the Chargers early in the first quarter. A Meredith Marti (Indianapolis, Ind.) three pointer at the 8:36 minute-mark gave UIS a 5-2 lead. Later in the quarter, junior Chelsea Cross (Champaign, Ill.) scored her first points as a Prairie Star with a pair of free throws that made the score 10-9 in favor of the Chargers. In the final 4:14 of the period, the Prairie Stars went just 1-for-7 from the floor as Hillsdale went on a 14-3 run to take a 24-13 lead into the second quarter.

The Chargers scoroed the first five points of the second quarter until senior Morgan Knorr (Savannah, Mo.) knocked down a three-ball to make the score 29-16 with 8:11 left in the half. Knorr knocked down another jumper a minute later to keep the Prairie Stars' deficit at 13. UIS scored only 11 points in the quarter and Hillsdale led 47-24 at the break.

Hillsdale increased its lead to 29, 64-35 by the end of the third period. The Prairie Stars began to mount a comeback in the fourth and final period. UIS outscored the Chargers 22-11 in the final period, led by Kelty who scored nine of her 10 points in the period, but there just wasn't enough time as Hillsdale picked up a 75-57 win.

The Prairie Stars play Lake Superior State tomorrow at 1 p.m. to wrap up the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover.