SPRINGFIELD, IL – McKendree University survived and earned a 69-65 victory over the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team during Monday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) nail-biter.
 
"We had a chance to win the game down the stretch and we just didn't make the plays we need to make to win it," UIS coach Mark Kost said. "We missed some free throws, we missed some shots around the basket, but the main thing is that we didn't get defensive rebounds. We forced them to take tough shots but we gave them second chances."
 
Shelbi Patterson led the Prairie Stars with 18 points. Reje Pitchford and Jasmine Sangster each contributed 11 points. Sangster also recorded three steals. Brianna Mefford notched eight points and nine rebounds. Tehya Fortune turned in seven points and eight rebounds. Grace Weber added five points, Val Meissner tallied three points and Gabrielle Sanders rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points.
 
UIS competed with a thinner lineup as Destiny Ramsey, Katelyn Rosner and Erin Bolskar were all scratches due to injury.
 
"We may have run out of gas at the end with the limited lineup that we had with our injury situation but that's not an excuse."
 
Jordan Heberg paced the Bearcats with 18 points. Callie Pohlman produced 11 points and Shayli Florine scored 10 points. Jordan Morton pulled down 12 rebounds while Florine and Abby Smith collected eight rebounds apiece. Madison Hart dished out four assists.
 
The Bearcats outrebounded the Prairie Stars by a 45-40 margin. McKendree held a 19-16 advantage on offensive rebounds and outscored UIS 18-11 on second-chance points.
 
The Bearcats sank 18-of-23 (78.3 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Prairie Stars made 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) attempts.
 
McKendree drained 23-of-63 (36.5 percent) shots from the field and 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) attempts from 3-point range. UIS converted 25-of-64 (39.1 percent) attempts from the floor and 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) shots from downtown.
 
The Bearcats and the Prairie Stars broke even in points off turnovers as both teams scored 12 each. McKendree committed 13 turnovers while UIS turned the ball over 14 times.
 
UIS topped McKendree in fast-break points by a 12-5 margin.
 
The Bearcats sparked a 27-point first quarter to lead the Prairie Stars 27-14. UIS switched from man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone and came roaring back and managed to you as an instant message.
 
"[The 2-3 zone] got us back into the game during the second quarter and it conserved some energy. It was a better defense for us but it also hurt our rebounding because you don't have rebounding responsibilities in the same way that you do in man-to-man defense. Eventually, McKendree got a lot of second-chance points on us but it did help us get back into the game and gave us a chance to win late."
 
The Prairie Stars took a multi-possession lead as Meissner hit one from behind the arc to lead 43-39. Florine made a bucket with 11 seconds left in the third quarter to trim the lead to two points. Sangster found Pitchford for a 3-pointer at the buzzer to enter the final quarter with a 56-51 UIS advantage.
 
The Bearcats scored the first five points of the quarter to even the score at 56-all. Patterson drained a basket to give UIS the lead with 8 minutes, 25 seconds to go. Both teams went on a 3:48 scoring drought before Patterson scored again.
 
McKendree trailed until Heberg knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Bearcats a 63-62 lead. Sangster hit jumper to swipe the one-point lead back into their favor. With 58 seconds to go, Heberg made two free throws to put McKendree ahead 65-64.  After UIS missed its opportunity on the next possession, Smith converted two freebies to give the Bearcats a 67-64 advantage with 28 seconds remaining.
 
The Bearcats stopped the Prairie Stars on the next possession, but missed both of their free throws. UIS made it to the line with 14 seconds to go but split its free throws. McKendree hit two more free throws to put the game out of reach.
 
"We need to get this back together to get going again and hopefully get some kids healthy. We can't let one loss crush us. We just have to put ourselves in position to win and get the job done."
 
The Prairie Stars encounter Maryville University (4-9, 1-6) in GLVC action on Saturday at 1 p.m. in St. Louis, MO.