The University of Illinois Springfield women's golf team competed against one of the strongest fields it will see this season at the UIndy Fall Invitational. The Prairie Stars improved each round and finished 11th overall.
 
UIS finished with a 54-hole score of 930, the second-best 54-hole tournament score for the team in program history. The Prairie Stars shot a 313 and 312 on day one of the event, and then had a 305 for the finishing five holes. Nine of the ten teams that finished ahead of them were nationally-ranked or receiving votes in the preseason national poll, and the Prairie Stars were just six shots behind No. 24 Carson-Newman.
 
The Prairie Stars were especially strong on the par-five holes. Their scoring average of 5.05 was second in the field, just behind the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II. Heather McLean was two-under for the tournament on par-five holes, one shot better than teammate Isabelle Segal.
 
McLean led UIS for the tournament with a three-day total of 227, which tied her for 21st overall. She also had the team's lowest round at the event with a 74 for the second 18 holes. Bobbi Uhl and Elaine Grant both tied with scores of 235. Uhl shot between 77 and 80 in each round, while Grant tied for the team's best score in both the first and third rounds.
 
Segal completed the event with a 238. Her best round was a 76 on Tuesday, which tied for the team-high for the day. Ira Joshi rounded out the team scoring with a 240, including the team's second-best mark of 78 in round two.
 
UIS will return to action next week at the Lady Panther Invitational in Bolivar, Mo.