SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team squares off with Missouri S&T to open the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) season.
 
SETTING THE SCENE
UIS (5-1) and Missouri S&T (4-2) clash on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Rolla, MO.
 
LOOKING BACK
The Prairie Stars dropped a 59-49 loss to the Lady Miners last season. Missouri S&T finished seven in the GLVC West Division last season with a 10-16 overall record and a 5-13 conference record. UIS took seven in the GLVC East Division with a 9-17 overall record and a 3-15 GLVC record last year.
 
UIS is 1-9 all-time against Missouri S&T. The Prairie Stars captured a 64-58 win over the Lady Miners in 2012.
 
GLVC PRESEASON RANKINGS
In the GLVC Preseason Poll, UIS was selected to finished third in the Central Division with 37 points while Missouri S&T was picked to finish fifth in the West Division with 23 points and one first-place vote.
 
LADY MINER CLASSIC
Both teams earned two wins against common opponents in the Lady Miner Classic on Nov. 10-11 in Rolla. UIS topped Purdue University Northwest (1-4) 79-73 and earned a 67-66 win over LeMoyne-Owen College (3-4). Missouri S&T captured a 93-84 win over LeMoyne-Owen and an 88-80 victory over Purdue Northwest. The Prairie Stars also secured an 80-72 road win over Purdue Northwest last Saturday.
 
OTHER COMMON OPPONENTS
UIS and Missouri S&T faced Indiana State University (2-4) in an exhibition. The Sycamores handed the Prairie Stars a 72-46 loss on Nov. 5 and topped the Lady Miners in an 84-51 decision on Wednesday.
 
WHAT'S HAPPENING LATELY
The Prairie Stars throttled Robert Morris University-Springfield (1-5) in a 106-27 win on Wednesday.
 
Missouri S&T took two losses during the Ramada Oasis Convention Center/Drury Thanksgiving Classic last weekend. Union University (6-1) to an 88-60 win over the Lady Miners on Friday. The University of Arkansas Fort Smith (5-3) rolled to a 91-62 victory over Missouri S&T on Saturday.
 
STARS OF NOTE
Destiny Ramsey leads the conference and is tied for 15th among NCAA Division II leaders with 2.67 blocks per game. The 6-foot senior forward from Bloomington, IL has pulled down 8.5 rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the conference. She ranks second in the GLVC with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game and has also collected five defensive rebounds per game. Ramsey also averages 2.8 assists and two steals.
 
Shelbi Patterson leads the Prairie Stars with 13.8 points per game. The 5-foot-9 senior guard from Indianapolis, IN has put together a .559 field-goal percentage and a .435 3-point field-goal percentage. Patterson averages 1.8 steals and 0.8 blocks.
 
Katelyn Rosner ranks second in the conference with 2.33 blocks per game. The 6-foot-2 sophomore center from Chicago, IL has recorded a .540 field-goal percentage. Rosner averages 10 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.5 offensive rebounds and 5.3 defensive rebounds.
 
Jasmine Sangster averages 11.3 points and two steals. The 5-foot-6 sophomore guard from Round Lake, IL has knocked down 86.5 percent of her free throws this season. Tehya Fortune has tallied 2.2 steals per game.
 
UIS OUTLOOK
 
UIS leads the nation with 8.3 blocks per game, which is one block more than the second-highest team. Among NCAA Division II leaders, UIS also ranks fourth in turnover margin (+10.83) and 10th in points per game (85.5). The Prairie Stars lead the conference in 10 categories, which include points per game, assists per game (17.3), steals per game (13), blocks per game, rebounds per game (48.5), offensive rebounds per game (17.8), scoring margin (+26.3), turnover margin, assist to turnover ratio (1.44) and field-goal percentage allowed (.324). UIS also ranks second in opponent 3-point field-goal percentage (.246) and third in points per game allowed (59.2).
 
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
Janie Arand leads the Lady Miners with 16.7 points per game, which ranks fifth in the GLVC. From the perimeter, Arand averages 2.2 makes per game and has hit 44.8 percent of her shots.
 
Maddie Raley has contributed 14.8 points per game. She ranks fourth in the conference with 2.5 makes per game from behind the arc. Raley has also recorded a .523 field-goal percentage and a .429 3-point field-goal percentage.
 
Michelle Borgen has notched 14.3 points per game. Kimberly Runge has collected 9.2 rebounds per game which ranks third in the conference. She averages 3.3 offensive rebounds and 5.8 defensive rebounds. Jordan Kabetske has produced averages of 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals.
 
Missouri S&T will look to use its shooting to counteract the UIS defense. The Lady Miners lead the conference in both field-goal percentage (.456) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.412). Missouri S&T ranks seventh in the nation in perimeter shooting as the Lady Miners have sank 40-of-97 shots from downtown.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
UIS takes on Rockhurst University (5-2, 1-0) in a GLVC matchup next Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in TRAC.
 
UIS DIVISION II RECORD BOOK WATCH
Among career leaders, Patterson ranks second assists (252), third in points (848), third in field goals made (342), third in steals (124), fifth in blocks (33) and fifth in 3-point field goals made (33). Among career blocks leaders, Ramsey ranks third in 48 while Rosner ranks fourth with 37.
 
HOW TO WATCH
1 p.m. - UIS at Missouri S&T (Live Video) (Live Audio) (Live Stats)