LEBANON, Ill. - The women's basketball team will stay put away from home as they will take on the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday, February 6th at 5:30 PM CT at The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC) in Springfield, Illinois. No contests will take place for the Bearcats this Saturday/Sunday.
HISTORY SHOWCASE
Against UIS, this will be the 32nd all-time meeting between the two programs, dating back to 2006. McKendree won the most recent matchup, which was earlier this season on December 7th where they won 72-62. The Prairie Stars snagged the victory in the matchup prior to last year when they won 77-72. The Bearcats currently lead the series 20-11, having a 6-4 edge within the last 10 meetings.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree has hit a rough patch within the last few weeks of play. They came out on the St. Louis road trip last weekend shorthanded, dropping both games as they lost five of their last six outings. The team currently sits at 11-8 overall and 7-6 into conference action.
In Thursday's game at Maryville University, the Bearcats trailed in the early goings against the Saints as they were down by only one point at the end of the first quarter. Yet, sophomore forward Baylie Parks (Lake Zurich, Ill.) responded well in the second period of play, scoring 10 of the team's 18 points to pick up a 32-26 lead heading into halftime. The gap remained close in the third quarter with freshman forward Kyra Taylor (Davenport, Iowa) notching in a few consecutive buckets to lead by four. The two sides kept trading scoring possessions throughout the final period of regulation, which ultimately led to Maryville fending off their home floor with a 69-65 win. Parks' 35 points is a career-high for the sophomore, as she did so by shooting 12-21 from the floor, 3-5 from three, and a perfect 8-8 from the line. She also corralled eight rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, and earned a steal. Taylor finished with 12 points on 5-10 shooting with four rebounds, two assists, and a block. Slings rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Bearcats as she had 10 points while going 2-5 from deep and notching a team-high five assists. The 35 points from Parks marks the most in the program since guard Christy Fortune (Appleton, Wis.) dropped in 36 in a win over Blackburn College on November 23rd, 2021.
In Saturday's game at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, McKendree hung around all through the first half before faltering at the start of the second. Taylor and sophomore guard Emma Slings (Polk City, Iowa) started out aggressively in driving it to the cup, where they would tie it at 16 a-piece at the end of the first period. Both teams were only able to muster eight points each in the second quarter as Slings heaved a half-court shot at the buzzer to tie the game once more at 24-all. A 12-2 run by the Tritons led them a path to run away with a win against the Bearcats, 68-50. Parks led McKendree with 14 points in going 4-11 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the line while grabbing six rebounds and tallying two blocks, a steal, and an assist. Slings finished with 11 points on 5-8 shooting along with a rebound and a steal.
Parks remains a perfect 19-for-19 in double-digit scoring outputs with 11+ points in all games this season and has grabbed 6+ rebounds in all as many contests. Her 18.3 points per game leads the team and is good for second in the GLVC (26th in the nation) as her field goal percentage of 53.8% (27th in the nation) places first in the conference, while her seven double-doubles are a second-GLVC-best (43rd in the nation). The sophomore's rebounding numbers are top-five in the conference and include total rebounds per game (1st – 9.6), total rebounds (2nd – 183), defensive rebounds per game (3rd – 6.7), and offensive rebounds per game (5th – 2.9).
Slings continues to be one of the team's and the GLVC's best facilitators. She is assisting the ball 3.1 times a game (59 total), in which both is good for ninth in the conference. The sophomore is also number nine in the GLVC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.07.
As a team, their 45.7% field goal percentage leads the entire conference. They also are placed in the top-three in free throw percentage (2nd – 74.5), three-point percentage defense (2nd – 27.8%), free throws made per game (3rd – 15.1), and scoring offense (3rd – 73.8 ppg)
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
University of Illinois Springfield | Thursday, February 6th, 5:30 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 72-62 on 12/7/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
UIS currently sits with a 5-16 record overall and a 4-9 posting in the conference slate. They picked up the win at Lincoln University (Mo.) on Saturday, 53-44 after dropping five of their last six games played. They lost to McKendree on the opening week of GLVC-play, 62-72 as they were in the midst of a 0-12 start to their season.
The Prairie Stars obtain four double-figure scorers on their squad, which includes sophomore guard Kayla Rice with 17.0 points per game and senior forward Niyah Udoiwod with 15.0 points per game. Rice is one of the conference's best three-and-D players as she leads the GLVC in steals with 3.3 per game (69 total). She is first in three-pointers per game (2.8), three-pointers made (58), three-point attempts (184), and total field goal attempts (353) as she is placed fifth in her points per game (17.1) and third in total points (359).
Much like Slings, Prairie Star senior guard Saharra Murphy is also a top-distributer for her offense as she dishes out 3.2 assists a game with 67 total, which is good for sixth and fourth in the conference respectively, along with a 10th-best 0.84 assist-to-turnover ratio. Her 2.1 steals per game (44 total) ranks fifth in the GLVC.
The UIS program does not jump out in many statistical categories, but they are first in the entire GLVC (50th in the nation) in steals per game with a conference-best 222 total steals. Their turnovers forced per game (19.0) also come in at number one while their free throw percentage of 74.3% is third.
TUNE IN-FO
at University of Illinois Springfield
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [UIS]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [UIS]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [UIS]
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