LEBANON, IL - Senior Ashley McHenry (Milwaukee, Wis.) scored a career-high 17 points to lead the University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team to a 60-45 win against Lake Superior State Saturday afternoon at the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover.

In head coach Mark Kost's second game as the coach at UIS, his team delivered a 15-point win behind double-digit scoring efforts from McHenry, senior Meredith Marti (Indianapolis, Ind.) and junior -transfer Chelsea Cross (Champaign, Ill.). Marti finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, all three-point attempts. Cross also collected 12 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

The Prairie Stars used a strong first quarter to take control of Saturday's game. After four straight points from Cross helped UIS take a 10-9 lead, the Prairie Stars took control of the game with back-to-back three pointers from Marti. UIS finished the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 20-9 lead into the second period.

Neither team scored in the second period until the 8:39 minute-mark when freshman Chasitee Shroyer (Freeport, Ill.) converted a layup to give UIS a 22-9 lead. Lake Superior State closed to within eight at two different times in the quarter but the Prairie Stars maintained their 11-point edge into the halftime break.

The Lakers cut the deficit to seven, their closest margin since the first quarter after a three-ball by Valerie Meissner with 3:28 to go in the period. UIS answered just over a minute later when Marti connected on another deep three to push the lead back to double-digits, 40-30. After scoring 20 points in the 1st period, the Prairie Stars scored just 22 points in the second and third quarters combined.

The fourth quarter was the Ashley McHenry show. McHenry scored 10 straight points for UIS and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field from the 6:53 to the 3:18 minute-mark. She finished 8-of-11 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Junior Syerra Cunningham (Beach Park, Ill.) scored the final six points of the game to extend the UIS lead to 15, 60-45. Cunningham finished with six points and 11 rebounds in just 11 minutes of action. 

UIS dominated on the glass against the Lakers, outrebounding LSSU 39-32. The Prairie Stars pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, which turned into 19 second chance points.

The Prairie Stars return to Springfield on Tuesday for their home-opener against Principia.