The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team suffered a 71-70 heartbreaking loss to Purdue University Northwest during Saturday's Purdue Northwest Cross Conference Classic matchup at Wentzville, Ind.
 
Purdue Northwest's Danielle Nennig drained the game-winner with one second left in regulation to seal the victory.
 
"We played hard and put ourselves in good position to win," UIS coach Mark Kost said. "I think we ran out of gas late given the injuries and being in two physical games."
 
The Prairie Stars (1-1) charged to an 11-2 lead before exiting the first quarter with a 16-11 advantage.
 
Lanie Hicks capped off a 7-0 run by hitting a 3-pointer with 8 minutes, 55 seconds left in the second quarter to give UIS a 21-11 lead. The Pride (1-1) narrowed the lead by four as UIS held a 25-21 advantage with 5:18 left in the second quarter and a 27-23 advantage with 3:21 left in the quarter. The Prairie Stars scored the next six points off a Jasmine Sangster jumper and consecutive layups from Gabrielle Sanders. UIS took a 33-23 lead and held a 33-26 advantage at halftime.
 
Freshman Lauren Ladowski capitalized on a bucket-and-one in the opening minute of the third quarter to put the Prairie Stars up by 10. The Prairie Stars continued with a 44-35 advantage with 3:44 left in the third quarter. Purdue Northwest put together a 10-3 run which was capped off by 3-pointer from Brittany Barnard cut UIS's lead to 47-45 with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. The Prairie Stars held a 51-47 advantage after three quarters.
 
Val Meissner drained a 3-pointer to kick off the fourth quarter. The Pride responded by scoring the next seven points to even the game at 54-all with 7:20 left in the game. Both teams remained within a single possession of each other until Sangster knocked down a 3-pointer to give UIS a 64-60 lead with 3:32 to go.
 
Molly DeValkenaere and Lanie Allen provided a pair of layups for the Pride to tie the game at 64-all. The Prairie Stars regained the lead when Ladowski hit a pair of free throws. DeValkenaere hit a 3-pointer to give Purdue Northwest a 67-66 lead with 1:48 left in the game. Ladowski contributed another layup to take back a 68-67 lead for UIS. DeValkenaere provided another layup for Purdue Northwest to regain a 69-68 lead for the Pride with 1:09 remaining.
 
Sangster was fouled and hit two free throws as UIS led 70-69 with 48 seconds left. Purdue Northwest turned the ball over, but UIS came up empty to give the Pride one final possession. Nennig made the basket off a pass from Barnard with one second remaining. The highly-contested fourth quarter consisted of five lead changes and five ties.
 
Sangster dropped a game-high 21 points for the Prairie Stars. Ladowski turned in 12 points. The freshman from St. John, Ind. also provided eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Meissner tallied nine points. Sanders produced eight points and eight rebounds. Hick and Tehya Fortune scored seven points apiece. Ellie Mitchell, Myka Rith and Chasitee Shroyer rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points each.
 
Bayley Goodman recorded a team-high 15 points with eight rebounds for Purdue Northwest. Nennig notched 14 points and three steals. DeValkenaere put together a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Allen dished out eight assists.
 
Purdue Northwest outrebounded UIS 44-34 and held a 21-11 advantage in second-chance points.
 
The Pride converted 29-of-63 (46.0 percent) shots from field and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) attempts from 3-point range.
 
UIS hit 23-of-64 (35.9 percent) attempts from the floor and 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) shots from the perimeter.
 
The Prairie Stars drained 17-of-21 (81.0 percent) shots from the free-throw line while Purdue Northwest made 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Purdue Northwest outscored UIS 36-30 in the paint.
 
The Prairie Stars committed six fewer turnovers than Purdue Northwest as UIS finished with 13. Purdue Northwest turned the ball over 19 times. UIS held a 21-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Both teams scored two points on fast breaks.
 
The Prairie Stars battle Lindenwood University (2-0) on Friday at 2 p.m. in St. Charles, Mo.