Kristi Larson scored a season-high 16 points and Illinois State played probably its best half of basketball in earning a 40-33 intermission lead, but No. 13 Southwest Missouri State used a 20-2 run to start the second half to come back for a 81-69 comeback win as Jackie Stiles and Tara Mitchem combined for 56 of SMSs points.
Stiles, the nations leading scorer, led the Bears with 32 points and Mitchem added 24.
The Bears blitz at the start of the second half helped SMS build a lead which grew as large as 56-45 before the Birds got rolling. Larson started it with a short jumper and scored nine points during a 16-5 Redbird run which got ISU even on Larsons bucket-and-one three-pointer with 7:00 left.
Larson got scoring help from
Nadia Peruch who added 14.
The Redbirds, 4-16 overall, 2-9 in the Valley, had plenty of chances, but converted just 17 of 34 free throws. And the Birds had been shooting over 71 percent in their last eight games before Saturday. SMS hit 25 of 35 at the free throw line.
Illinois State head coach
Jenny Yopp said after the game she was more than pleased with the teams effort and commented on how far her team has come this year.
How far we have come, and I think the biggest thing I feel right now is making sure we make a commitment to bringing our best game to this floor and today we did that, Yopp said. Two games in a row this team has played consistently and we only continue to get better. This was a fantastic basketball game, our kids believed they could win but I give credit to SMS for taking control but couldnt be more proud of our game and kids right now.
Mitchem broke the tie with a layup and Kinga Kiss hit two free throws to put SMS up 65-61. ISU had chances to catch up, but made just four of eight free throws and the Bears pulled away on two free throws by Mitchem, a free throw and a basket by Deer and a three-point play by Stiles that gave the Bears, 16-4 overall, 10-1 atop the Missouri Valley, a 73-65 lead entering the final 100 seconds.
Illinois State got off to a great start, leading by as many as 13, 28-15 with 7:20 left in the half. The Birds played nearly 12:30 without committing a turnover and held Stiles without a point until 12:56 left in the half.
The Bears got going when Stiles converted a conventional three-point play with 7:07 left. That started a 16-7 SMS run in which Stiles scored 11 of the 16 Bears points. ISU pulled back ahead by seven on Peruchs three-pointer with 1:49 left and led 40-33 at the intermission.
ISU shot 59 percent from the field in the first half (16-27) and had just five turnovers while holding the taller Bears to a 16-16 draw on the boards. The Birds made just 7 of 15 free throws.
SMS scored the first 12 points of the second half, seven of them by Mitchem, to take a 45-40 lead with 17:20 left as SMS turned up the defensive pressure. ISU had one field goal in five attempts and six turnovers in the first seven minutes of the second half.
Illinois States
Steph Reichle commented after the game on the defensive level of SMS after the half, knowing the team would turn up the pressure.
They did the same thing when we played them in Springfield, coming out strong in the second half, Reichle said. We worked on stopping that all week in practice, the pressure defense, and knew after we were leading that they would focus on that after the break. But we just tried higher passes and pushed the ball so we couldnt feel the pressure as much.
ISU returns to action on Feb. 9 at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. The game starts at 7:05 p.m.
