SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Southern Indiana (USI) pulled away from the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) women's basketball team with a 64-51 victory during Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.
 
USI (20-2, 12-1) held a 14-13 lead over UIS (10-11, 4-9) after one quarter, which was capped off by a 3-pointer from Shelbi Patterson. There were six lead changes in the second quarter but USI held a 25-21 lead at halftime.
 
The Screaming Eagles scored the first five points of the third quarter. UIS put together six consecutive points to narrow Southern Indiana's lead to 30-27. The Screaming Eagles took a 35-30 lead and followed up with a 9-2 run to hold a 44-32 advantage. USI led 44-36 through three quarters.
 
UIS trimmed Southern Indiana's lead to 46-41 to start the fourth quarter, but five points from Kaydie Grooms helped USI pull away from the Prairie Stars. USI outscored UIS 20-15 in the fourth quarter.
 
"We got it back to five or six points and then took two quick jumpers after one pass that weren't good shots and then it became a three-possession game and it got out of hand," UIS coach Mark Kost said.
 
Despite a 13-point loss, the Prairie Stars were able to keep Southern Indiana, which is ranked No. 15 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II poll, within two or three possessions.
 
"The final score is not indicative of how close it was with a few minutes left. I'm happy with the effort. The disappointing thing is that if we played with that kind of effort over the last six games, we probably would have won four of them and would be in good shape in this league. We've got five games left that we can win if we play with that kind of heart and desire the rest of the way."
 
USI turned up its offense in the second half. After shooting 29.7 percent (11-of-37) in the first half, the Screaming Eagles turned in a 51.7 percent (15-of-29) shooting clip in the second half. Although the Prairie Stars improved their percentage in the second half, they were unable to match the improvement made by USI.
 
"We needed to make more layups. We had five missed layups. If you make four of those, that's eight points and it's a different ball game."
 
Patterson cashed in a career-high 24 points to lead the Prairie Stars. Katelyn Rosner recorded nine points and five rebounds. Destiny Ramsey tallied eight points and two blocks.
 
Tehya Fortune scored six points by going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. The 5-foot-7 sophomore guard from Chicago, IL also dished out four assists.
 
Brianna Mefford and Jasmine Sangster rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points. Sangster also contributed five rebounds and three steals.
 
Morgan Dahlstrom led the charge by pouring in 34 points and collecting 19 rebounds. She drained 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) shots from the field. Dahlstrom finished the first half with 18 points and 11 rebounds, which includes seven offensive rebounds. She provided 16 points and eight rebounds in the second half. USI topped UIS 23-2 on second-chance points.
 
"I challenged anyone at halftime to keep Dahlstrom off the offensive boards and we chose not to do it. She's a heck of a player. She's an all-conference player and proved it. She didn't score on any shots outside of three feet from the basket."
 
Grooms notched 16 points. She started with two points in the first half and turned in 14 points in the second half.
 
"We went under a ball screen on her, which we said that we cannot do. She hit a 3-pointer and that got her going."
 
Kacy Eschweiler recorded 11 points and three blocks. Mikayla Rowen blocked two shots.
 
The Screaming Eagles converted 26-of-66 (39.4 percent) shots from the floor and 1-of-16 (6.3 percent) attempts from 3-points range. UIS hit 16-of-53 (30.2 percent) shots from the field and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from the perimeter.
 
The Prairie Stars found the free-throw line 18 times and knocked down 17 (94.4 percent) shots. USI made 11-of-14 (78.6 percent) shots from the charity stripe.
 
The Screaming Eagles outrebounded the Prairie Stars 45-30. USI finished with 19 offensive rebounds.
 
The Screaming Eagles held a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers. UIS committed 18 turnovers while USI turned the ball over 17 times.
 
The Screaming Eagles held a 40-16 margin in points in the paint.
 
With five GLVC games remaining in the regular season, the Prairie Stars challenge William Jewell College (11-9, 8-5) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in TRAC.
 
"We'll grow from this. They are one of the best basketball teams in the country and we played toe-to-toe with them, which is what were capable of doing, but can we sustain that kind of effort over the next five basketball games."