The University of Illinois Springfield women's basketball team will continue their season on New Year's Eve at TRAC. The Prairie Stars take on regional opponent, Lake Superior State, at 1:00 p.m. 

UIS (5-6)

The Prairie Stars will try to return to winning ways after dropping two close games in Florida at the Century Retail Christmas Classic. 

On December 15 against host institution Florida Southern, the Prairie Stars and the Mocs played a close game which ended in a Mocs win, 59-57. At the break, Florida Southern led 37-28, but a strong third quarter from the Stars evened things up going into the final frame. The final quarter was a defensive battle, as both teams shot under 34% in the last frame. The Mocs held a two point lead with 17 seconds remaining. Three Prairie Stars had a chance to tie the game, but no one could find the tying basket. Jessenia Lawson led the Stars with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Michaela Gibbons added 12 points of her own. 40 of UIS's 57 points came in the paint. Three Mocs finished the game with double-digit points. The Prairie Stars forced Florida Southern into 21 turnovers. UIS shot 25-for-70 (35.7%) from the field, including a 3-for-26 (11.5%) mark from three point range. Florida Southern shot 25-for-59 (42.4%) from the field, with a 6-for-22 (27.3%) mark from three. 

December 16's matchup came against Eckerd College, which ended in a loss for the Prairie Stars, 78-90. Eckerd held a large lead at the intermission with over 60% shooting from the floor in the second quarter to outscore UIS 30-14. UIS scored more points in the third and fourth quarters, but their comeback bid was cut short by the Tritons. UIS managed 25 second chance points, 17 fast break points, and 33 points off the bench, holding the advantage in each statistic. Amaya Asher led UIS with 17 points while Jessenia Lawson and Michaela Gibbons added 16 apiece, with a majority of their points coming in the final quarter. UIS totaled 43 rebounds, 24 offensive and 19 defensive. UIS shot 24-of-69 (34.8%) from the field, while shooting 3-for-20 (15.0%) from three. Eckerd shot 26-for-52 (50.0%) from the field, including an 8-of-20 (40.0%) mark from three. 

Lake Superior State (0-9)

The Laker women's basketball team is still looking for their first win of the 2023-24 season. LSSU went 0-2 after two games in Florida over the holiday period. 

December 15 the Lakers traveled to play Lynn in Florida. The first quarter was back-and-forth throughout as Lynn led 21-20. The second and fourth quarters showed the Fighting Knights pull away from LSSU, as Lynn won 92-71. Eleven different LSSU players scored in the game, with Breah Golden (16), Taylor Stacy (12), Grace Bradford (10), Jaden Wilder (10) all finishing with double-digit points. LSSU shot 28-for-63 (44.4%) from the field, including 5-of-17 (29.4%) from three. Lynn shot 31-for-52 (59.6%) from the field, including 10-for-19 (52.6%). 

December 17 LSSU played Barry University, looking to win their first game of the season. Unfortunately, Barry controlled the game from the opening tip and didn't let LSSU close the entire night. Amanda Roach led the Lakers with 9 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field. LSSU shot 16-for-50 (32.0%) from the field, and only 1-of-12 (8.3%) from three. Barry shot 25-for-67 (37.3%) from the field, including 7-of-19 (36.8%) from three. 

The Lakers are led by an underclassman duo in sophomore Grace Bradford and freshman Breah Golden. Bradford is averaging 12.4 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per game. Golden is averaging 12.7 points per game and 3.1 assists per game. 

How to Watch

Every home game this year will be streamed on GLVCSN under a paywall. The prices are $75 for the whole season and you will be able to watch any women's basketball game on the website. Or, you can pay $10 per game to watch. You are able to follow the live stats of each game through the UIS WBB schedule. 

Up Next

The Prairie Stars return to GLVC action with a home game against Drury on January 3, before traveling to William Jewell on January 6.