GAME DAY LINKS -- 
McKENDREE at ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD -- Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, 1 p.m.
The Recreation and Athletic Complex -- Springfield, Ill.

LISTEN LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE VIDEO (UIS Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
UIS SEASON STATISTICS
GLVC STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 4)--The McKendree University women's basketball team will jump back into Great Lakes Valley Conference action Saturday afternoon when the Bearcats make the short trip north to take on the University of Illinois Springfield. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on the UIS campus. Saturday's game will also be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree, with the live audio broadcast set to begin at 12:50 p.m.

McKendree is tied for the best start in program history since joining the NCAA Division II ranks. The Bearcats are 8-3 on the year, and have started out league play 2-0 for the first time since becoming GLVC members in 2012-13. McKendree's last game action came in an exhibition contest on Sunday at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The Bearcats rallied from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game in the final minute before SIUE pulled out a 64-63 win. Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) poured in a game-high 21 points while Jordan Heberg (Romeoville, IL/Plainfield North) added 15 points for McKendree. Excluding the exhibition match-up at SIUE, the Bearcats have won two straight outings and five of their last six entering Saturday's tilt at UIS.

Diekhoff continues to lead the Bearcats in scoring at 16.4 PPG. She is fourth among all GLVC players in scoring, and her 89.1 percent mark at the free throw line is third in the league and ranks in the top 30 overall in NCAA Division II. Heberg is the only other McKendree player averaging in double figures at 11.1 PPG. 

Jordan Morton (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) is sixth in the GLVC with her team-leading 8.4 rebounds per game. Madison Hart (Oak Creek, WI/Oak Creek) is next at 7.1 RPG, while Megan Jensen (Union, MO/Saint Francis Borgia Regional) is close behind at 5.9 RPG. Jensen is third on the team in scoring at 9.4 PPG and paces the squad in field goal percentage, hitting 56.5 percent of her tries from the floor. That figure is tied for fifth in the conference.

GLVC resumed on Thursday, but both McKendree and Illinois Springfield had an open date on the league schedule. The Bearcats enter Saturday's action as one of four undefeated teams in GLVC play, joining Drury University, Lewis University and the University of Southern Indiana atop the conference standings at 2-0. McKendree kicked off its league schedule right after Thanksgiving with victories at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (72-55) and Maryville University (68-47).

Following Saturday's game, McKendree will prepare for a four-game home stand that is set to begin on Thursday, Jan. 10 when Marvyille visits the Statham Center. 

ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
The Prairie Stars check in to Saturday's contest with an overall record of 3-7 along with an 0-2 mark in the GLVC. UIS visited Kentucky State University last Saturday and was defeated by a score of 64-61. Tehya Fortune led the way for the Prairie Stars with 22 points while Jasmine Sangster scored 18 points and Ellie Mitchell added 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Lauren Ladowski leads a balanced scoring attack for UIS at 12.6 PPG and has dished out a team-high 31 assists and is second in steals with 17. Sangster is close behind at 12.1 PPG, while Fortune is third on the squad in scoring at 11.8 PPG. Fortune is also connecting on 81.6 percent of her attempts from the foul line and has posted 19 steals, both of which lead the Prairie Stars. UIS began its conference season in the first semester with losses at Maryville (74-64 on Nov. 29) and Missouri-St. Louis (82-54 on Dec. 1).

McKendree and Illinois Springfield have met 11 times on the basketball court since the Bearcats joined the GLVC. McKendree holds a 7-4 advantage in those contests, including a 4-1 mark on the road. in 2017-18, the Bearcats swept the regular-season series from the Prairie Stars, opening with a 79-72 triumph on Jan. 6, 2018 in Lebanon before completing the sweep nine days later in a 69-65 victory on Jan. 15, 2018 in Springfield, Ill.