EVANSVILLE, IN - Junior
Syerra Cunningham (Beach Park, Ill.) notched her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds in the University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team's 79-64 loss to Southern Indiana Saturday afternoon at the PAC.
The Prairie Stars shot a season-best 45 percent (26-57) from the floor and 50 percent from three point range (7-14) but made only five of their 13 free throws. Southern Indiana shot 19-for-21 from the charity stripe in the game.
Senior
Meredith Marti (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored a team-high 15 points for UIS. She knocked down five of her eight three point attempts. Cunningham added 14 points and 12 boards while sophomore
Shelbi Patterson (Indianapolis, Ind.) continued her streak of consecutive double-digit scoring games with 11 points. The sophomore guard shot 5-for-9 from the floor, her best shooting performance of the season, and recorded six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
The Prairie Stars led for only 1:43 in Saturday's game, taking a 7-6 lead at the 6:23 minute mark of the first period on a layup by senior
Ashley McHenry (Milwaukee, Wis.). McHenry scored seven points and grabbed five boards in 19 minutes of play.
Later in the quarter, a three pointer from Marti tied the game at 16, but another three from the Screaming Eagles gave the hosts a 19-16 lead heading into the second period. Southern Indiana grabbed control of the game and pushed its lead to as many as 15, 41-26, late in the period. Marti connected on another three for UIS and then a free throw from Patterson made the score 41-30 at halftime.
UIS came out of the locker room on a mission and the Prairie Stars delivered, outscoring Southern Indiana 20-16 in the period. Marti converted three pointers at the 5:41 and the 4:33 minute marks to bring the Prairie Stars within six, 48-42. The two teams traded buckets down the stretch in the third quarter and the Screaming Eagles took a 57-50 lead into the final period.
The fourth quarter got away from UIS in a hurry as the hosts started the quarter on an 11-0 run over the first 3:27 of the quarter. The visitors never recoverd as Southern Indiana rolled to a 79-64 win. With the loss, UIS is now 3-4 on the season and 0-2 in the GLVC.
