Finals week wraps up today at the University of Illinois Springfield and the women’s basketball team has the perfect way to decompress.
The Prairie Stars play two games in Daytona Beach, Florida on Monday and Tuesday. They face Embry-Riddle University Monday at 10 a.m. They take on Angelo State University Tuesday at 12:15 p.m.
UIS is in for a tough task. Embry-Riddle received votes in the NCAA Division II national poll this week. Angelo State was ranked No. 20 in the final Division II poll last season and reached the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
“It’s a reward for our players to be able to go on trip like that,” UIS women’s basketball coach Mark Kost said. “We’ve worked for a couple of years now to raise the money to do it. This is the team that deserves it because of the way they’ve played. We’re going to play high level competition. One is right on the edge of the top 25 nationally and one of them was in the NCAA tournament last year, so it will be a challenge. But it’s a challenge I think our group is ready for.”
The Stars take a four-game win streak into Monday’s contest.
They also go into it as the Division II leader in blocked shots per game. UIS is averaging 7.8 blocks in a game.
This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on December 15, 2017.
Read the entire article online.
