Finals week doesn't start until a week from Monday at Illinois State, but the testing period is getting tougher for a freshman-dominated Redbird basketball team.
ISU, 1-4, plays at 0-5 Louisville on Saturday. Don't be fooled by the Cards' record. Those losses have included ranked teams Cal-Santa Barbara and Texas, plus Minnesota and Western Kentucky and the average margin of defeat is just eight points. Coach Martin Clapp's non-conference schedule looks like the work of his veteran men's basketball counterpart, Denny Crum.
The ISU-U of L game will be played Crum's legendary lair--Freedom Hall. Most Cardinal women's games are in cozier Cardinal Arena.
Louisville is led by freshman guard Sara Nord and junior guard Kara Kassans, who combine for 28 points per game. The Cards have been plagued by foul trouble and a free throw deficit of more than 2-to-1 for the season.
Redbird head coach
Jenny Yopp Yopp believes her young team learned some hard lessons at Western Illinois while showing genuine improvement.
"It was a tremendous ballgame," said Yopp. "Both teams were very competitive. We got into some tough situations in the first half and got down nine at halftime. Things didn't go well for us early in the second half. We fought hard to overcome, but the deficit was too big."
Coming out tough after halftime is something young players have to learn, according to Yopp.
"Inexperienced players have to learn to play through miscues and stay composed," she said.
But Yopp thought her team played smarter at WIU and was particularly excited about the efforts of freshmen
Jaci McCormack and
DJ Flournoy off the bench.
McCormack led the scoring as ISU cut an 18-point lead down to seven in the second half. Flournoy made all six of her field goals and made two eye-popping plays that wowed even WIU fans. She had an acrobatic tip-in and appeared to have her hand above rim-level while blocking a WIU layup.
"We made better decisions than over the weekend (at San Diego)," said Yopp. "Jaci and DJ showed they can make some plays for us."
Yopp is hoping her team can continue to improve in the face of an increasingly-demanding schedule, including a home game Thursday against No. 24 Illinois.
"It's still about this young team improving," said Yopp. "It's exciting to see what our players can do. There's potential here."
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