The University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team could not pull out a Senior Day victory on Saturday afternoon at TRAC, as the Prairie Stars lost to William Jewell by a 71-61 margin.
 
UIS built an early lead and led by as many as eight in the second quarter. The Cardinals fought back though, tying the game twice before the Prairie Stars went into half with a 35-33 lead.
 
Both teams went cold after half, until a 7-0 William Jewell midway through the third gave it the lead for good. UIS trailed by three at 47-44 after 30 minutes of play, and continued to struggle getting shots to fall in the final period as William Jewell eventually built a double-digit lead.
 
UIS finished the game shooting under 30 percent from the field, compared to 43.8 percent for William Jewell. UIS made seven three-pointers, one more than the Cardinals, but the Cardinals made nine more at the free-throw line.
 
Lauren Ladowski finished with a team-high 17 points and three assists. Malea Jackson added 11 points, and Makenna Fee had eight points and a team-bests 10 rebounds and two blocks. Ellie Mitchell also had eight points and three steals, and Liz Uhl finished with eight points.
 
The Prairie Stars celebrated two seniors prior to the game in Grace Weber and Brianna Mefford. Weber had three points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Mefford collected one rebound in the game.
 
UIS moves back to .500 on the season at 8-8. The Prairie Stars are in action again on Tuesday night at McKendree.