Just as the calendar was turning to February, the University of Illinois Springfield women started playing its best basketball.
“The whole month of February is probably the best I’ve seen us play,” UIS coach Chad Oletzke said. “The kids started to buy in and do what we were asking as a whole group in all different aspects. They were playing hard, communicating and doing the X’s and O’s right. Some people were shooting the ball better or defending better or executing better.”
The Prairie Stars were 2-8 in their last 10 games. Five of the losses, including an 82-77 overtime defeat to No. 15 Lewis, were by six points or less. UIS closed with a 7-19 overall record and a 3-15 GLVC record. The Stars won six overall games during the 2012-13 season and recorded the same conference record.
When it comes to the turnaround in competitiveness, Oletzke points to a special meeting of the players following a 73-51 loss to 18th-ranked Indianapolis Jan. 23.
“A lot of teams have meetings like that and it just really springboarded us from that point on,” Oletzke said.
The team was featured by The State Journal-Register on March 13, 2014.
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