The University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team opened up GLVC play on Monday night at TRAC with a victory over McKendree. The Prairie Stars used their defense to spark an 81-52 win over the Bearcats.
 
UIS scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed. It led 23-15 after one quarter, and then led by as much as 17 in the second quarter. A 13-0 run in the third quarter put the game out of reach, and the Prairie Stars eventually led by as many as 30 in the final minutes of the contest.
 
UIS held the Bearcats to just 36 percent shooting from the field, and 28.6 percent from three-point range. The Prairie Stars also forced 20 turnovers, which led to 22 UIS points. UIS also had a 45-26 advantage on the boards, and outscored McKendree 42-20 in points in the paint.
 
Offensively, the Prairie Stars spread out their scoring with six players scoring eight or more points. UIS finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field, including 53.3 percent in the first half.
 
Liz Uhl had a career-game with 19 points. She was seven-of-10 from the field, and three-of-five from three-point range. Ellie Mitchell hit a pair of three-pointers and had 14 points. Ally Gietzel was perfect on five shots from the field, and she had 11 points. Lauren Ladowski added 10 points, Malea Jackson had nine, and Jalyn Harris finished with eight.
 
Harris led the team's rebounding effort with eight, one more than Olivia Travis. Mitchell and Gietzel both had six rebounds. Mitchell and Kourtland Tyus each had three assists, and Jackson had a pair of steals.
 
UIS improves to 5-1 overall on the season. The Prairie Stars will continue their homestand on Thursday night with a GLVC game against Southern Indiana.