SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team cruised to a 117-40 victory over MacMurray College on Monday.
 
"The thing I liked about how we played is that we didn't worry about the opponent and got the job done early," UIS coach Mark Kost said.
 
UIS (3-0) broke three school records, crushing the single-game marks in points (117), field goals made (46) and rebounds (70) in its win over the Highlanders (0-1). The Prairie Stars also tied the school's single-game record in blocks (12).
 
The Prairie Stars smashed the previous single-game record of 63 rebounds, set back in 2004. Rebounding has been a point of emphasis for the Prairie Stars since the graduation of Syerra Cunningham. Cunningham led the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with 10.8 rebounds per game last year and holds the UIS Division II record of 740 career rebounds.
 
"Rebounding was something we've been working on. We lost a great rebounder from last year, so that's a focus for us because we thought that was an area that we would struggle. We've got to continue to do that and get better every game."
 
All 16 players on the Prairie Star roster contributed to the UIS scoring effort. Shelbi Patterson and Destiny Ramsey led the Prairie Stars with 14 points apiece. Jasmine Sangster provided 13 points. Val Meissner and Katelyn Rosner each tallied nine points. Erin Bolskar recorded a career-high nine points. Chasitee Shroyer and Grace Weber both scored eight points. Reje Pitchford put together a career high of seven points. Gabrielle Sanders and Cheyanne Danner both produced six points. Lanie Hicks notched five points, Che Jones added three points while Tehya Fortune, Airiana Smith and Brianna Mefford rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points apiece.
 
"We got some people some playing time that didn't play over the weekend. We're going to need that bench going forward, especially on Saturday against Lindenwood."
 
Sanders paced UIS with nine rebounds. Pitchford and Hayes pulled down career highs of seven rebounds and six rebounds, respectively. Meissner and Fortune dished out four assists apiece. Patterson collected four steals while Ramsey blocked four shots and tied the UIS Division II single-game record for the fourth time in her career. Ramsey hit 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shots from the field while Patterson drained 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) attempts from the floor.
 
Shelby Fink contributed a team-high 12 points for the Highlanders. Maddie Dalton recorded seven rebounds.
 
The Prairie Stars led the Highlanders 58-23 at halftime and outscored MacMurray 59-17 during the second half.
 
UIS did its damage down low, outscoring the Highlanders 74-2 in the paint. The Prairie Stars captured a 24-to-0 advantage on fast-break points and outscored MacMurray by a 32-to-4 margin off turnovers. UIS also held a 28-to-10 advantage on second-chance points.
 
The Prairie Stars outrebounded the Highlanders 70-40.
 
UIS converted 46-of-86 (53.5 percent) shots from the floor and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) attempts from 3-point range. MacMurray knocked down 12-of-78 (15.4 percent) attempts from the field and 9-of-43 (20.9 percent) shots from the perimeter.
 
The Prairie Stars drained 20-of-32 (62.5 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Highlanders made 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
In UIS Division II history, Patterson moved to third in career points (799) and sixth in career defensive rebounds (207).
 
UIS hosts Lindenwood University (2-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. During the 2016-17 season, Lindenwood put together a 14-16 record and a 7-12 record in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) play. As a No. 9 seed, the Lions made a run to the MIAA semifinals before falling to the fifth-seeded University of Central Oklahoma in an 84-82 loss. Lindenwood returns four starters from last season.
 
"Lindenwood is a good team. They had a young team last year with freshman. They got off to a slow start but made a great run in the MIAA Tournament. They play in transition, they're tough, they deny the passing lanes and they're the type of test that we need on Saturday."