SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team was halted by Drury University in a 76-44 loss during Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.
 
"Drury is beyond a good basketball team," UIS coach Mark Kost said. "They showed us that with their toughness, which is something we don't have right now."
 
The Panthers (17-2, 8-1) entered the game ranked No. 10 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II poll. UIS (10-7, 4-5) committed a season-high 29 turnovers as Drury outscored the Prairie Stars 34-10 in points off turnovers. The Panthers turned the ball over 22 times. Drury's defense came up with 22 steals. The Panthers entered the contest ranked 12th among NCAA Division II leaders in steals with an average of 12.6 steals.
 
"It was an ugly basketball game, but that's how they make you play. It feels like they have seven players on the floor. It feels like they're guarding me at times. We worked on it but obviously you can't simulate their pressure in practice."
 
Shelbi Patterson led the Prairie Stars with 12 points. Reje Pitchford notched six points and four steals. Brianna Mefford scored five points. Grace Weber tallied four points and two blocks. Tehya Fortune, Chasitee Shroyer and Jasmine Sangster recorded three points each. Katelyn Rosner, Ariana Smith, Lanie Hicks and Cheyanne Danner rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points apiece.
 
"I did see a few players come in that didn't play as much earlier in the season that showed a little bit and maybe have earned some more playing time."
 
Heather Harman paced the Panthers with 17 points and five assists. Lucia Fernandez provided 14 points and four steals. Hailey Diestelkamp contributed 11 points, 15 rebounds and four steals. Lexie Vaught collected four steals.
 
Drury outscored UIS 46-12 in the paint.
 
The Panthers finished a 45-29 rebounding advantage.
 
Drury converted 32-of-70 (45.7 percent) shots from the field and 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) attempts from 3-point range. UIS hit 15-of-49 (30.6 percent) attempts from the floor and 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) shots from behind the arc.
 
The Prairie Stars drained 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Panthers made 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) shots from the charity stripe.
 
UIS had opportunities to compete early, but the Prairie Stars were unable to finish on offense.
 
"We were in it early in the game. We were up 3-2 and had four chances to score. We got some stops but just didn't do anything, offensively, and the game got away from us during those next five minutes. In the second quarter, we made a run, cut it to nine, but we didn't score 19 of the last 23 points and the ball game was over from that point."
 
Drury led 17-7 after the first quarter and entered halftime with a 43-19 lead. The Panthers built its lead to 60-33 through three quarters. Drury outscored UIS 16-11 in the fourth quarter.
 
"Our goal right now is to develop some toughness within our basketball team because right now, we've lost it."
 
UIS takes on the University of Indianapolis (6-14, 3-7) in GLVC play on Saturday at 1 p.m. in TRAC.
 
"We'll be better on Saturday."