The University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team fell to Kentucky State on Tuesday night at TRAC by a 61-58 score. The Prairie Stars led for nearly 38 minutes of the contest, but the Thorobreds took their first lead with 24 seconds left and held on for the win.
 
UIS's defense helped the team grab a seven-point lead through the first 20 minutes of the game. Kentucky State shot just 25 percent in the first half and turned the ball over 14 times. The Prairie Stars led at the break by a 27-20 score.
 
Both offenses heated up in the third quarter. UIS hit back-to-back three-pointers to go up 47-36 late in the quarter, and it would take a nine-point lead into the final 10 minutes.
 
In the fourth, Kentucky State used a 9-0 run to tie the game with five minutes left. UIS snapped that run when Makenna Fee hit a jumper in the lane, followed by a three-pointer by Malea Jackson. UIS couldn't get a big shot in the final two minutes though. Back-to-back missed shots led to the Thorobreds taking the lead with 24 seconds left, and a turnover and missed three-pointer in the final 10 seconds by UIS kept the Prairie Stars from going back ahead.
 
Both teams shot 40 percent from the field for the game. UIS held Kentucky State without a three-pointer in 12 attempts, and the Prairie Stars made five three-pointers. Kentucky State finished with seven more rebounds, and four few turnovers in the game.
 
Lauren Ladowski led UIS in scoring with 13, followed by Jackson with 11 and Katelyn Rosner with 10. Makenna Fee and Grace Weber each had nine points. Fee led the team with five rebounds, Ladowski and Fee had team-highs with three assists, and Jasmine Sangster had four steals.
 
UIS falls to 4-2 on the season. The Prairie Stars start GLVC play next Tuesday at Lewis.