OWENSBORO, KY --- Junior guard Shelbi Patterson nearly matched her career-high in the first half alone, but ultimately Illinois Springfield (5-4, 0-2) fell to Kentucky Wesleyan 75-66 as the Indianapolis native scored a career-high 22 points. The Prairie Stars turned the ball over a season-high 24 times in the loss, including ten in the pivotal third period in which the Prairie Stars were outscored 20-7.

UIS began the game by jumping out to an 11-6 lead as Patterson hit her first three of the night, giving her seven points in the first five minutes of the game. Another three a minute later pushed the UIS lead to eight --- their largest of the quarter --- before a 6-0 run closed the gap to just two before Tehya Fortune drained a three in the final seconds to give UIS a 23-18 lead at the quarter.

Tied at 28, Syerra Cunningham hit a jumper, which preceded another jumper and three from Patterson to give UIS a 35-30 advantage with 4:17 to go in the half. Kentucky Wesleyan then closed the half on an 11-0 run to take a 41-35 lead into the break. Patterson was 7-of-12 from the field in the first half with three three's and had 17 points, three shy of her previous best mark.

To begin the new half, UIS fell behind 43-35 but rattled off seven straight points, cutting the deficit to just one less than two minutes into the half. However, four consecutive turnovers from UIS allowed Kentucky Wesleyan to extend their lead to double-digits, ultimately ending the quarter with a 19-point advantage.

The Prairie Stars failed to score in the final 8:23 of the quarter, resulting in a 18-0 run for the home team. A three from Michaela Jones 35 seconds into the fourth quarter ended the drought and started a steady comeback for the Prairie Stars.

Down 72-57 with 3:28 remaining, a free throw from Cunningham began a 7-0 run, cutting the deficit to just eight but with under a minute to go, the effort was too little too late.   

Patterson ended the game with 22 points, besting her previous career-high of 20 which she did twice during her freshman campaign. It's also the second highest point total by a Prairie Star this season, behind only a 23-point effort from Destiny Ramsey on November 25^th against Missouri Southern.

Cunningham posted a 7-of-8 mark from the field for 17 points and seven rebounds while Caroline Kelty filled the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists. The six assists break her previous best by two and ties the high UIS mark for the 2016-17 season.

The Prairie Stars fall to 5-4 with the loss and will step away from the court for two weeks before returning to face Blackburn on December 31^st to close out the 2016 portion of the schedule.