SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team took down the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) in a 69-65 win during Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.
 
UIS (9-4, 3-2) responded with a clutch win after dropping the last three games.
 
"We hadn't played well in the past couple of games, so this was a good response for our basketball team," UIS coach Mark Kost said. "We played with more toughness and more urgency than in the past couple of games. We were diving on the floor for loose balls, making plays, getting tough rebounds and making plays down the stretch that you need to make to win a ball game."
 
UIS and UMSL (7-5, 1-4) were knotted at 65-all with 51 seconds remaining. Jasmine Sangster knocked down a 3-pointer with 38 seconds to go to give the Prairie Stars a 68-65 lead. The Tritons had two opportunities on the following possession but came up empty. Sangster split a pair of free throws to seal a four-point victory.
 
"We wanted a baseline drive for Tehya Fortune, but they did a good job of cutting it off. We didn't panic. We kept the ball moving side to side and when you do that and if the ball comes to you, you don't really think about the shot. You just get it and if you're open, you take the shot. That's what Jasmine did."
 
Destiny Ramsey led the Prairie Stars with 18 points. The 6-foot senior forward from Bloomington, IL converted 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) shots from the field. Ramsey kickstarted the UIS offense with 14 points in the first half.
 
"Destiny's energy really helped us. She's been really disappointed with how she's played the past couple of games. She came out with a renewed effort and commitment to get after it. She got us off to a good start offensively and defensively."
 
Fortune tallied 15 points and Sangster contributed 12 points.
 
Katelyn Rosner recorded eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high five assists. She spent the latter portion of the contest fighting an injury and continued to be productive.
 
"It looked like Katelyn came down on someone's foot under the basket. She's a tough kid; that's why I recruited her. There's a lot of people that would have been done for the night, but she got back in there and she was going against an outstanding post player. [Jordan Fletcher] is a senior who has been through all of the battles and Katelyn did a good job of being tough and making [Jordan] earn all of her points."
 
Shelbi Patterson and Val Meissner turned in seven points. Reje Pitchford rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points.
 
Fletcher paced the Tritons with 18 points and seven rebounds.
 
"She's good. You're not going to stop her; you kind of just have to wear her out and show her different looks."
 
Sammie Sproul delivered 15 points and four steals. Arielle Jackson added 14 points.
 
The Prairie Stars knocked down 26-of-48 (54.2 percent) shots from the field and 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) attempts from 3-point range. UMSL hit 26-of-60 (43.3 percent) attempts from the floor and 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) shots from downtown.
 
The Prairie Stars powered to a 17-6 advantage on fast-break points.
 
UIS drained 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) attempts from the free-throw line while UMSL made 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) shots from the charity stripe.
 
The Tritons outrebounded the Prairie Stars 31-27 and topped the Prairie Stars 10-2 in second-chance points.
 
UIS and UMSL both turned the ball over 13 times. The Tritons recorded a 16-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
UMSL outscored UIS 36-30 in the paint.
 
The Prairie Stars and the Tritons remained within a possession until UMSL took a 14-10 with 2 minutes, 45 seconds left in the first quarter. UIS rattled off 10 points in a row before UMSL's Sammie Sproul hit a 3-ball to close the quarter.
 
The Tritons scored the opening five points of the quarter to take a 22-20 lead. Both teams traded two pairs of baskets before Sangster hit a 3-pointer to take a 27-26 lead. The Prairie Stars finished the quarter on a 7-2 run to lead to enter halftime with a 34-28 lead.
 
During the third quarter, UMSL chipped away at its deficit to tie UIS at 38-all. The two teams were tied at 40-all and 43-all. UIS wrapped up the third quarter with a 49-46 lead.
 
Sproul knocked down a 3-point with 5:35 left in the game to take a 59-57 lead. Patterson and Ramsey scored consecutive layups to put UIS back on top. After UIS pulled ahead 65-60, Kaitlynn Henning gave UMSL a layup and Sproul drained a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining. Sangster responded with her go-ahead 3-pointer.
 
"One game doesn't make a season but it sure helps to get a win."
 
Patterson ranks fourth in UIS Division II history with 69 career 3-point field goals. Ramsey moved to 10th in UIS Division II history with 245 career rebounds.
 
UIS battles Quincy University (5-9, 1-4) in a conference matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m.