SPRINGFIELD, IL - The McKendree Bearcats shot 57 percent from the field to defeat the University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team, 77-62, Saturday afternoon at the Recreation and Athletic Center.
It was the Prairie Stars' GLVC home opener and the host side struggled to slow the Bearcats down all game. The visitors finished 31-for-54 from the field and 11-for-14 from the free throw line to pick up their first GLVC win of the season.
Junior
Caroline Kelty (River Forest, Ill.) led the Prairie Stars with a season-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Kelty also recorded four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. The junior guard was huge for the Prairie Stars down the stretch as she went 5-for-5 in the second half. She and sophomore
Shelbi Patterson (Indianaplis, Ind.) combined to score 22 of the team's 39 points in the second half.
The Bearcats opened the game on an 11-2 run as the Prairie Stars struggled to put the ball in the basket. Patterson knocked down a three pointer at the 4:29 minute mark of the first quarter to end the run and make the score 11-5 in favor of McKendree. It was the team's first field goal of the game. UIS cut the deficit to four two different times but McKendree answered with three pointers to push the lead back to seven at the end of the quarter.
UIS came out with a sense of urgency in the second period and forced a turnover on the first possession, which led to a bucket by senior
Leslie Hairston (Glendale, Ariz.). That kickstarted a 9-2 over the next three minutes as the hosts came back to tie the game, 19-19. The Bearcats responded again, as they seemed to do whenever UIS gained any momentum. The visitors ended the quarter on an 11-4 run to push the lead back to seven, 30-23 at the break.
The scoring came in bunches in the third period. The teams combined to score 57 points in the 3rd quarter after scoring only 53 in the first half. A three pointer four minutes into the quarter from Patterson brought UIS within four, 40-36, but that was as close as the hosts would come the rest of the game. McKendree forced three turnovers in the next two minutes to help push the lead to double digits for the first time, 46-36. The deficit remained at 10 heading into the final quarter.
McKendree increased its lead to as many as 18 down the stretch largely because the Bearcats shot 67 percent from the floor.
The Prairie Stars are back in action at home next Saturday at 1 p.m. against Oakland City.
