SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (8-9, 2-7) are coming off a 1-2 week in which they beat rival McKendree on the road on Monday night before falling in back-to-back games at home to Saint Joseph's and Indianapolis. Illinois Springfield will hit the road, where they are 2-4 on the season to face Wisconsin-Parkside (5-12, 3-6) and (RV) Lewis (14-5, 6-3).
SETTING THE SCENE
The Prairie Stars are now halfway through the conference season and already have as many total wins and conference wins as they did in the 2015-16 campaign --- their first under head coach
Mark Kost. They enter the weekend having dropped four of their last five GLVC match-ups and will play six of their final nine games on the road.
Wisconsin-Parkside is coming off an 0-2 week after falling on the road to #11 Bellarmine 71-78 and (RV) Southern Indiana 81-84. Prior to that, the Rangers had won three straight games.
Lewis will enter the week having split their last six games, which includes a win over #11 Bellarmine 69-57 on the road. Lewis handed the Knights their first GLVC loss and second loss of the season --- the other coming to #1 ranked Ashland on December 30
th.
GLVC RANKINGS --- TEAM
Scoring offense – 7
th – 69.1
Scoring margin – 8
th -- 5.4
FG Percentage Defense – 6
th – 37.3
Rebounding – 2
nd – 41.9
Offensive Rebounds – 2
nd – 15.18
Blocks – 3
rd – 4.47
GLVC RANKINGS --- INDIVIDUAL
Syerra Cunningham
Rebounds – 1
st – 11.2
Scoring – 24
th – 11.6
FG % -- 4
th – 56.3
Blocks – 7
th – 1.35
Destiny Ramsey
Rebounds – 17
th – 5.6
Steals – 8
th – 1.94
Blocks – 8
th – 1.24
Shelbi Patterson
Scoring – 29
th – 10.9
Assists – 12
th – 3.12
Steals – 14
th – 1.59
Assist/Turnover – 11
th – 1.10
Minutes – 8
th – 31.71
THE STARTING FIVE
The starting five of
Tehya Fortune,
Shelbi Patterson,
Caroline Kelty,
Destiny Ramsey, and
Syerra Cunningham have started 16 of the teams 17 games.
Katelyn Rosner is the only player to start a game other than those five.
CLOSE CALL
UIS has played eight games this season that have been decided by 10 points or less and are 2-6 in those games. Five of those games have been in conference play and UIS is 1-4 in those such games.
STATE DOMINATION
The Prairie Stars are 4-0 against teams in the state of Illinois this season: RMU-Springfield, Blackburn, Quincy, McKendree. They have two more in-state games this season, one this weekend against (RV) Lewis and their final game of the year at home against McKendree.
RECORD BOOK SHAKE-UP
Cunningham is now the all-time rebounding leader in UIS history after collecting her 626
th board against McKendree. The senior now has 644 career rebounds and is closing in on the all-time offensive rebounding mark, in which she needs 11 more to tie the record.
Cunningham and Patterson are moving their way up the all-time scoring list, sitting 6
th and 7
th, respectively. Cunningham has 684 points to Patterson's 683.
Patterson now sits alone in 2
nd place on the all-time assists list with 220. She is behind only Alyssa Palmer (10-14) who has a record 386 career dimes.
THE LAST TIME…
The last time these two teams met, UIS struggled offensively for three quarters, scoring just 32 points after 30 minutes. UIS fell 70-53 behind 14 points from
Ashley McHenry and 11 from Cunningham.
UIS is 1-9 all-time against Wisconsin-Parkside, last winning in January of 2014.
The last time UIS and Lewis squared off, the Prairie Stars fell 63-41 and were held to their lowest scoring total of the year. Cunningham was the lone Prairie Star to reach double-figures with 14 points as UIS shot just 30.8 percent on the day.
UIS is 1-9 against Lewis, last defeating the Flyers in February of 2011 in Springfield.
WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE NOTES
The Rangers are third to last in the league with a -5.4 scoring margin, scoring just 63.6 points per game. Wisconsin-Parkside has just one player averaging in double-figures, Brittney Fair, who puts in 13.8 points per game. The Rangers have started nine different players this season and shoot just 38.6 percent from the field.
The Rangers do play defense well, holding a 0.47 turnover margin and ranking 5
th in the league in steals (8.59) and 2
nd in blocks (4.59). Though, they do rank last in scoring defense, surrendering a conference high 69.0 points per game.
LEWIS NOTES
(RV) Lewis ranks 3
rd in the GLVC in scoring margin, winning on average by 12.3 points per game. They join Southern Indiana and Drury as the only teams to average winning by double-figures. The Flyers are tops in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 49.1 percent from the field, this puts them second in the nation in that category behind only #1 Ashland.
Along with holding the league's top offensive shooting percentage, they hold opponents to the worst percentage in the league at a 35.9 percent clip.
The Flyers are led by sophomore Jessica Kelliher and redshirt senior Jamie Johnson. Kelliher has been the recipient of the GLVC Player of the Week twice this season and Johnson once.
Kelliher leads the league with 20.2 points per game while Johnson ranks third, putting in 17.9 points. Kelliher leads the nation with a 69.1 field goal percentage, which is eight points higher than anybody else in the GLVC. Johnson has connected on 50 threes' this season, second only to Paige Wilson from Drury.
MEDIA CENTRAL
Live Stats vs. Wisconsin-Parkside
GLVCSN vs. Wisconsin-Parkside
Live Stats vs. Lewis
GLVCSN vs. Lewis
Listen vs. Lewis
