University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball freshman Lauren Ladowski posted a career-high 19 points during Wednesday's 78-74 loss to Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) in Joplin, Mo.

"I'm very proud of our effort o the road against a very good opponent," UIS coach Mark Kost said. "Our team has faced adversity in the early part of the season and we have responded over the past two weeks."
 
The St. John, Ind. native also led the Prairie Stars (3-6) with six assists.
 
Krista Clark knocked down a 3-pointer to give MSSU (8-3) a 10-6 lead with 7 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first quarter.  UIS rattled off the next nine points to take a 15-10 lead. The Prairie Stars concluded the first quarter with a 23-20 advantage.
 
During the second quarter, the Prairie Stars built a 34-28 lead with 5:37 left in the quarter. The Lions scored the next seven points to take a 35-34 advantage with 2:44 remaining in the quarter. Both teams entered halftime knotted at 38-all.
 
Val Meissner opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer for UIS. MSSU delivered the next 10 points during a 3:07 run to take a 48-41 lead with 6:20 left in the third quarter. Brianna Mefford hit a pair of jumpers on consecutive possessions to cut MSSU's lead to three. Clark put the Lions up by five. Mefford then made a layup, followed by a fast-break layup from Ladowski as UIS trimmed the lead to 50-49.
 
UIS remained within a single possession before Clark drained a jumper with 2:41 left in the third quarter to give MSSU a 56-51 advantage. Lanie Hicks knocked down a 3-pointer on the next possession to cut UIS's deficit two. Jasmine Sangster followed up with a fast-break layup off a steal to even the score at 56-all with 1:44 left in the quarter. The Lions exited the third quarter with a 60-58 lead.
 
Meissner again opened the quarter with another 3-pointer, this time giving UIS a 61-60. The contest had two lead changes and two ties during the next 3:43 and UIS took a 70-65 lead following a 3-pointer from Meissner. Trailing UIS 72-67 with 4:42 left in the contest, MSSU put together an 11-2 run to close out the game. Jordan Schoenberger made a layup with 2:11 remaining to trim MSSU's deficit to 74-73. Chelsey Henry delivered the go-ahead bucket-and-one, breaking a 74-all tie with 1:24 remaining.  After UIS missed a 3-pointer on the next possession, the Prairie Stars received one final opportunity to score when Meissner came up with the steal 19.6 seconds left in the contest. UIS came up empty on the possession and Clark hit the front end of two free throws to seal the four-point victory. The contest consisted of 14 lead changes and seven ties.

"It was a great college basketball game and both teams battled. They made a play in the final minute and that was the difference."
 
Meissner, Tehya Fortune and Mefford each provided 12 points for the Prairie Stars. Ellie Mitchell and Sangster contributed six points apiece. Hicks scored five points and Gabrielle Sanders rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points.
 
Mitchell produced five assists and a team-high seven rebounds. Meissner and Sangster delivered five assists and four assists, respectively. Ladowski knocked down 9-of-12 (75 percent) shots from the field while Mefford hit 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) shots from the floor.
 
Henry tallied 22 points while Clark notched 20 points for the Lions. Schoenberger recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while also blocking four shots.
 
MSSU finished plus-two on the boards, outrebounding UIS 36-34. The Lions gathered 15 offensive rebounds to outscore the Prairie Stars 15-10 on second-chance points.
 
Both teams were even in the battle for ball control as the two teams each finished with 17 turnovers, 14 points off turnovers and six fast-break points.
 
UIS drained 30-of-60 (50 percent) shots from the floor and 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) attempts from 3-point range. MSSU converted 30-of-65 (46.2 percent) shots from the field and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) attempts from the perimeter.
 
The Prairie Stars sank 9-of-12 (75 percent) free-throw attempts while the Lions hit 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) shots from the charity stripe.
 
UIS battles Kentucky State University (7-5) next Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Frankfort, Ky.

"We will use this break to continue to improve and get healthy."