(LEBANON, Ill. - Feb. 16) - The McKendree University women's basketball team welcomed the University of Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars to the Harry M. Statham Sports Center on Tuesday afternoon. The Bearcats avenged their loss from earlier in the year, with a 71-68 win.
 
How it Happened:
In the first half, the Bearcats and Prairie Stars would battle back-and-forth the whole way. The Bearcats were led by freshman Christy Fortune (Appleton, WI/Appleton West) who came out on fire in the opening half. She finished the first half with 17 points on seven-of-eight shooting from the field, including draining a three at the buzzer to put the Bearcats ahead by one at halftime.
 
Both teams continued to play each other close for the entire third quarter, and until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter when the Bearcats pulled away with the help of Fortune and junior guard Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) , who each drilled two threes with under two minutes left to lift the Bearcats over the Prairie Stars
 
Inside The Box Score:
-  Sydney Diekhoff (Pekin, IL/Pekin Community) led the way for the Bearcats, finishing the contest with 24 points on seven-of-20 shooting from the field, and four-of-seven shooting from behind the arc.
-  Christy Fortune (Appleton, WI/Appleton West) was right behind Diekhoff with 23 points, with 17 of those in the first half, shooting nine-of-12 from the field, and five-of-six from deep.
-  From the field, the Bearcats shot 39.7 percent on 63 total field goal attempts, and 45 percent from deep on 22 attempts
-  McKendree finished the contest with 17 helpers and 35 rebounds, with 15 of those coming on the offensive glass

Up Next:
The Bearcats take the court next when they travel to Saint Louis, Mo. When they square off against Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent Maryville University on Feb. 18 at 5:30 PM