What coach
Jenny Yopp described as a mini-preseason ends for her Illinois State University basketball team when the Redbirds meet Northern Illinois at 7:05 p.m. Thursday in Redbird Arena.
Coming after a stretch of six games in 12 days which ended Dec. 6 at Illinois, the 20-day break between games has helped the Redbirds, according to Yopp.
We have had more time in practice to make more adjustments and have more repetitions for our young players, said Yopp. Weve had time for our bodies to heal; now were ready for two games before Christmas, before the (Missouri Valley) conference season.
Illinois State plays host to Western Illinois on Saturday to complete its pre-conference slate. League play opens Dec. 29 at Indiana State.
Yopp cited point guard
Taren O'Brien and forward
Stacey White, both sophomores, as players who have made progress during the Redbirds 0-7 start.
Im proud of how hard Taren has worked to get more consistency, said Yopp. She and Stacey White both came back from the summer much improved, and they have carried that forward into the season.
The themes of the mini-preseason for Yopp, her staff and her players have been execution and simplicity.
We have had time to work on execution, and thats something a young team needs to do, said Yopp. Weve had some problems handling the ball and weve had time to get better at that. Our staff has discovered that keeping things simple is best because it helps our players focus on execution.
Playing in-state competition has been a tradition at Illinois State and the Redbirds will be looking to improve on a 168-82 all-time record against Division I teams from Illinois. That includes an 8-3 mark against Northern Illinois and a 38-2 record against Western Illinois, a former conference partner in the Gateway Conference. A year ago, the Redbirds played both teams on the road; they opened the 2000-01 season at Northern Illinois and the Huskies shot 61 percent in an 83-60 win.
