The University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team clinched a winning conference season on Thursday night with a road victory over Missouri S&T. The Prairie Stars won in Rolla, Mo. by a 69-62 margin.
 
UIS trailed by one at halftime, but took the lead for good in the third quarter on a three-point by Ally Gietzel with 3:33 remaining in the period. Despite the Prairie Stars never trailing again, the game was still close throughout the fourth quarter. UIS led by just one with under two minutes remaining when Lauren Ladowski hit a layup. Neither team scored for nearly a minute, until Malea Jackson scored on a three-point play to give the Prairie Stars a large enough lead for the rest of the game.
 
UIS won the rebounding battle 40-33, and was able to use that for an 18-5 advantage in second-chance points. UIS also made 18-of-19 free throw in the game.
 
Malea Jackson had a team-high 20 points, and she also had six boards. She made nine-of-nine free throws, and had a +21 plus/minus, 16 points higher than the next closest Prairie Star.
 
Lauren Ladowski added 17 points, and Ellie Mitchell had 14. Ally Gietzel just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. Ladowski had a team-high four assists and two steals.
 
UIS improves to 16-9 on the season and 11-8 in GLVC play. The Prairie Stars end their regular season on Saturday at Drury.