Box Score (SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 30)—The McKendree University women's basketball team nearly overcame a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes as the Bearcats dropped a 76-71 decision Friday evening at the University of Illinois Springfield.
 
The Bearcats trailed 68-58 with 4:08 remaining, but an 11-2 run cut the deficit to 72-71 with 31 seconds to play. However, the host Prairie Stars sank their last eight free throw attempts – including four in the last 28.6 seconds – to hang on for the win. The loss was the seventh in a row for McKendree, which slips to 6-9 on the year. The Bearcats return to action Monday with a game at Drury University in Springfield, Mo.
 
Junior forward Shelby Woelfel (Jerseyville, Ill./Jerseyville) registered a season-high 22 points to lead the way for McKendree. Woelfel also grabbed eight rebounds against Illinois Springfield. Sophomore guard Brittany Willis (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway South) chipped in with 16 points and a team-leading nine rebounds. Freshman guard Caty Ponce (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) connected for 12 points and dished out for assists for the Bearcats.
 
Seeing her first game action in a year and a half because of a knee injury, senior guard Ashley Agee (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) scored three points and handed out a team-leading five assists in 17 minutes of action.
 
McKendree led in the early stages of the first half before Illinois Springfield ripped off 10 consecutive points to take a 14-8 lead at the 12:42 mark. After a lay-up by Woelfel, the Prairie Stars scored the next five points to extend its lead to 19-10 midway through the period. Illinois Springfield took its largest lead of the half at 24-14 before the Bearcats rallied.
 
For the next five minutes, McKendree held the Prairie Stars without a point, putting together an 8-0 run to pull within 24-22. A short jumper by Ponce with 3:02 left in the half enabled the Bearcats to knot the score at 26-26. The teams traded baskets down the stretch until a driving lay-up by Willis on the final possession of the half helped McKendree pull even at the intermission at 30-30.
 
Illinois Springfield grabbed the lead in the early portion of the second half, but McKendree continued to stay close. A lay-up by Harris with just over seven minutes to play brought the Bearcats within 58-56. At that point, the Prairie Stars reeled off the next eight points and 10 of the next 12 to extend its lead back to double digits at 68-58 at the 4:08 mark.
 
The Bearcats then staged one final rally, starting with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes. Ponce capped the spurt with a 17-foot jumper to slash the deficit to 68-66 with 1:16 remaining. Following two free throws from UIS, Agee drilled McKendree's lone three-point field goal of the contest with 51 seconds on the clock to trim the margin to 70-69.
 
After the Prairie Stars hit two more free throws, freshman forward Danielle Amann-Stewart (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) answered with a lay-up to bring McKendree within 72-71. However, the Bearcats would get no closer as Illinois Springfield made its final four free throw attempts to seal the win.
 
Alyssa Palmer and Megan Bergerud each scored 17 points to lead Illinois Springfield. Bailey Beale and Cristina Nevins posted 13 points apiece, while Ashley Coffey pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for the Prairie Stars, who improved to 6-4 with the victory.