Steph Reichle hauled in a career high 17 rebounds and Kristi Larson scored 14 points as the Illinois State womens basketball team upended league-leading Creighton in overtime Saturday night at Redbird Arena.
The Jays, 9-5 overall, 4-1 in the Valley, were the undisputed Missouri Valley Conference leaders before the game, but dropped their first league game despite placing three players in double figures. Christy Neneman led the way with 17 points. Traci Jones added 10 while Laura Spanheimer chipped in 10, but the Jays shot just 23 percent from the field and made just 5 of 27 three-pointers.
Reichle knew the Birds had their hands full on defense.
We knew they were No. 7 in the nation in three-point shooting. We knew they were leading the league, but we fought hard on defense and made them work, said Reichle, whose rebounds were the second-best total by an ISU player in Redbird Arena history. CU had a 51-47 rebounding edge, including 32 offensive boards.
The Redbirds, 3-11, 1-4 in the Valley, were led in scoring by Larson while Taren OBrien added 13 and Sharon Blade collected 10 points. ISU took the lead in overtime on two free throws by OBrien followed by a Larson bucket and finally an OBrien field goal with 2:31 left to put ISU safely ahead.
Even though Creighton got off to a 2-12 shooting start, the Jays led 4-0 before ISU got two free throws by Larson, a bucket by White and a layup by OBrien to lead 6-4. Creighton went on a 17-2 run featuring two three-pointers by Spanheimer to take a 21-8 advantage at the eight-minute mark.
The Redbirds kicked it in at that point, starting with a Beth Huston three-pointer with 7:52 left and ending with OBriens three-pointer, finishing an 18-4 run which gave the Redbirds a 26-25 lead with 1:20 left. Spanheimers layup and Kristi Nenemans free throw put Creighton ahead 28-26 at the intermission. Reichle didnt score, but had seven rebounds. Seven different Redbirds scored in the first half led by OBriens seven points. CU shot just 27 percent, but led thanks to eight second-chance points because of 14 offensive rebounds.
Reichle put the Birds ahead 49-47 with 1:56 left in regulation on a driving left-handed layup. Neneman hit two free throws with 1:47 left to tie the score and Traci Jones put the Jays ahead five seconds later with a jumper after a turnover. Kristi Larsons jumper from 12 feet tied the score again at 51-51 with 1:20 left.
Huston grabbed a loose ball on Creightons next trip and White was fouled with 58.7 left, but missed the front half of a one-and-bonus. CU missed with 35 seconds left and ISU called time out at 0:28.6. ISU and CU both missed shots which could have won the game in regulation time.
Kim Hover hit a free throw to put CU ahead 52-51 to start the overtime, but Reichle answered with a layup with 4:22 left. Jones hit a free throw to tie the score again 11 seconds later. OBrien put ISU ahead with 3:44 left on a pair of free throws and Creighton turned the ball over on its next possession. Donovans layup put ISU up by four with 3:25 left. OBrien beat the shot clock with a layup with 2:31 left to put ISU up six, but Jones drained a three to cut it in half. Blades jumper put ISU back ahead 61-56 with 1:03 left and a layup by Katie Donovan with 13 seconds left boosted the Redbirds to a seven-point lead.
This team doesnt get too low in its lows and I dont think well get too high with this win, but we stuck with the game plan and expected to win, said Redbird coach Jenny Yopp, whose team stopped a four-game losing streak.
