(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 6)—The McKendree women's basketball team broke into the Great Lakes Valley Conference win column Saturday afternoon with a 79-72 home win Saturday afternoon against the University of Illinois Springfield.
The Bearcats build a 20-point lead early in the third quarter but had to fend off a late comeback attempt from the visiting Prairie Stars to earn their fourth victory in five outings. McKendree improves to 5-6 overall and 1-3 in the GLVC. The Bearcats will host Maryville University in another GLVC Central Division match-up Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Sophomore guard Jordan Heberg registered a game-high 19 points to show the way for McKendree. Junior forward Jordan Morton and freshman guard Callie Pohlman each chipped in with 14 points, while sophomore guard Madison Hart helped out with 11 points.
Morton had a double-double in Saturday's win as she pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the Bearcats. It was Morton's first double-double of the season and just the second of her McKendree career. In addition, the 12 rebounds matched a career-best for Morton. Sophomore forward Shayli Florine added nine rebounds as Hart pulled down eight for the Bearcats, who held a 52-37 edge on the boards against UIS.
McKendree led throughout the contest, opening on a 7-2 run before pushing the margin to 17-9 with 2:18 remaining in the period. UIS countered with a pair of baskets when Heberg scored the final four points of the quarter to stretch the lead back to 21-13 after 10 minutes of play. Florine scored on a driving lay-up with 5:37 remaining until halftime to give the Bearcats their first double-digit lead of the afternoon at 31-20. Once again, the Bearcats took control late in the period, ending with an 8-0 run to build a 43-28 lead heading into the locker room. McKendree held the Prairie Stars without a point over the final 3:38 of the half in the process.
At the outset of the second half, McKendree netted seven of the first nine points to take its largest lead of the day at 50-30 with 8:17 left in the third quarter. Hart capped the opening run with her lone three-pointer of the game. The Bearcats were able to maintain their large advantage through the balance of the period before Illinois Springfield began to chip away at its deficit in the closing minutes. The Prairie Stars scored on seven of their final eight possessions of the quarter to pull within 62-51 at the buzzer.
McKendree looked to regain control in the early portion of the fourth quarter as Morton hit back-to-back shots to spark a 6-0 run that pushed the Bearcats back to a 70-57 lead with 4:55 to play. Moments later, UIS ripped off eight straight points to battle back within 73-68 with just 1:10 remaining.
Pohlman sank one of two free throws on the Bearcats' next possession to stretch the lead back to six points. The Prairie Stars' Shelbi Patterson then hit two foul shots to trim the deficit to 74-70 with 48 seconds on the clock. Hart was fouled on the subsequent inbounds play and proceeded to knock down both free throws to give McKendree a 76-70 cushion with 43 seconds left.
Senior guard
Abby Smith (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) hit a free throw and Heberg capped her 19-point performance with two more foul shots in the closing seconds to help seal the win for McKendree. The triumph marked the Bearcats' first over the Prairie Stars since a 71-54 back on Feb. 25, 2016 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
Chastiee Shroyer and Brianna Mefford each came off the bench to share team-high scoring honors for Illinois Springfield (8-4, 2-2 GLVC) with 12 points. Patterson and Destiny Ramsey each connected for 11 points. The Prairie Stars held a 39-17 edge in bench scoring in Saturday's contest.
