HAMMOND, Ind. - - The Purdue Northwest Women's Basketball team tipped off Kids Day at the Hammond Fitness and Recreational Center on Saturday afternoon by hosting the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars. Bayley Goodman (Fowler, Ind./Benton Central) cut the UIS lead to 60-57 with a three-pointer, but foul trouble doomed the Pride in the fourth quarter as UIS beat PNW 68-59. The Prairie Stars were in the bonus with four minutes remaining in the quarter, as Anjel Galbraith (Vallejo, Cal./Salesian College Prep) fouled out with 4:50 remaining and Molly Devalkenaere (Milwaukee, Wis./Brookfield) fouled out with 4:10 remaining.

"We absolutely competed," said Head Coach Courtney Locke. "One thing we talked about was toughness and what toughness entails, and I thought they were tough today. I wanted us to be more physical; we have to be more physical, and I thought we did a good job. We won the third quarter and I love these kids; I love them with every ounce, but we've got to execute."

Statistical leaders for the Pride included Savaya Brockington (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central), who recorded team highs with 13 points and six assists in 36 minutes. Danielle Nennig (Wrigthstown, Wis./Wrightstown) finished with nine points and four rebounds and Tayler Vauters (Rockville, Ind./Riverton Parke) had her season-highs with seven points and four rebounds in 23 minutes of action. Kennedy Jackson (Carson, Cal./Redondo) had another efficient offensive outing, as she finished with seven points on 3-5 shooting while grabbing a team-high five rebounds.
  
An eventful third quarter that ended with the score tied at 47 was highlighted by a 9-0 Pride run, which lasted over two minutes. Jackson scored five straight PNW points to lead the run, including a three-pointer and a fast-break layup off the assist from Brockington. The Prairie Stars followed with a 6-0 run of their own to regain the lead. Vauters took a steal with 2:30 left in the quarter all the way for the fast-break layup that cut the UIS lead to 44-43. Galbraith then put PNW back up with a driving layup with 56 seconds left in the quarter before a Prairie Stars free-throw with 2.7 seconds remaining tied the score.

In the end, the Pride outscored UIS 16-7 in second-chance points and 34-22 in points in the paint.

"Our offense gives us a little excitement to play defense, and we had some open shots with early execution" said Locke. "It just comes back to execution. We've just got to get better."

PNW Women's Basketball next travels to Grand Rapids, Michigan for a December 5 matchup at Davenport to begin conference play. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m.