Nadia Peruch had 17 points and 9 rebounds and
Shandeen Hunt 's three-point shot with 1:57 left provided the winning margin in Illinois State's 61-60 win at Evansville.
Illinois State, 4-13 overall, 2-6 in the Missouri Valley, capped a six-game losing streak by out-rebounding the Aces, 8-8 overall, 4-4 in the Valley, 47-34 for the game and survived a 20-turnover effort in the first half.
The 'Birds fell behind by nine early in the second half, but put together a 21-4 run on the way to a 56-47 lead with 6:08 to play. The Aces, led by Jenna Hayes who had 19 points, roared back to take a 59-58 lead on Lisa Eckart's jumper with 2:19 left.
On the next possession, ISU drained the shot clock before Hunt, who had 11 points after missing her first five shots, got open from beyond the arc and took a pass from the other Native American on the team, freshman
Jaci McCormack , and drained the key shot of the game. Eckart split two free throws for the Aces with 36 seconds left and EU had the ball in the final seconds after an ISU miss, but couldn't get a shot off.
"Jaci knows exactly how to get me the ball in that situation," said Hunt. "I just took the shot that was open. It feels so good to get a win and so many players did so many things to make that happen."
Redbird coach
Jenny Yopp was happy for Peruch and Hunt, her two seniors, for their leading effort.
"Nadia and Shandeen really were poised and they have done such a great job playing with this young team, I'm happy for them," said Yopp. "The keys to this game were containing their three-point shooting, getting back in transition on defense and rebounding. We did all of those things tonight."
UE, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation, made just 4 of 21 for the game. ISU hit 6 of 20, three each by Hunt and junior
Kellie Johnson Peruch . The Redbirds out-shot UE 38.5 percent to 32.2 percent from the field as the Aces converted just 8 of 29 field goals against ISU's match-up zone in the second half. Yopp was pleased with how her program has progressed since a 39-point loss a year ago in Roberts Stadium.
"Last year, we were so humiliated and depleted when we played here," said Yopp, whose team lost 93-54 last year at Evansville. "To see how far this team has come from last year really makes me feel good."
After the Aces took a 4-0 lead, Johnson hit back-to-back threes to start an 11-0 run as the Aces missed nine straight shots over a four minute period. But Ali Langham's back-to-back buckets sparked UE's 28-13 edge the rest of the half.
"We're going to make national news for winning a game after committing 20 turnovers in the first half," said Yopp.
After UE moved to a 39-30 lead in the first three minutes of the second half,
Kristi Larson picked up four guick points to lead ISU on an 11-2 spree which featured four points by Peruch and Johnson's third three-pointer of the game. Peruch's two free throws tied the score at 41-41 with 12:33 left in the game.
Then Hunt, who missed her first four shots of the game, buried back-to-back treys to put ISU up four and Peruch hit back-to-back layups to build the Redbird lead to 51-43 with 9:50 left. In seven minutes, ISU out-scored UE 21-4. Then, the Aces peeled off that lead and made Hunt's final three-pointer a necessity.
"There's nobody on this team we'd rather have take that shot in that situation than Shandeen," said Yopp. "She has confidence in herself and her teammates have confidence in her."
