Sharon Blade led Illinois State with 12 points and seven rebounds, but the Redbirds lost their first exhibition game of the season against the Ohio Premier All-Stars, 78-51, at Redbird Arena.
Zora Skrabalova finished with nine points for the Birds, while Desiree Gutierrez, Erin Keeney and Michelle Harakas turned in eight points apiece. Harakas also had seven rebounds and three steals in the game.
Ohio Premier was led by Lisa Cline with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Jannon Roland and Crystal Carpenter each turned in 15 points apiece for the All-Stars. Ohio out-shot the Redbirds 46 percent to 36 percent for the game and Illinois State coach Jenny Yopp thought the difference at times was decision-making for her team, which had 19 offensive rebounds, but just 10 second-chance points. ISU was just 1-16 from three-point range.
We were out of sync and hesitant at times, said Yopp. We gave up some shots inside and didnt take advantage of some situations. We have accurate three-point shooters. Well get the confidence going. Sometimes, we just hesitated when there was no reason to.
With potential starters Taren OBrien, Katie Donovan and Jaci McCormack all serving one-game suspensions for violation of team rules, the Redbirds were victimized by Ohio Premiers pressure defense in the first half. The Redbirds also played without senior Stacey Nickerson and sophomore Chris Kutschinski. Nickerson has a foot injury and Kutschinski has a back injury which will be reevaluted this week.
Eighteen turnovers produced 26 points off turnovers for Ohio in the first half. Jannon Rolands 11 points helped the All-Stars to a 38-22 lead at intermission.
After a Sophie Tirtiaux layup with 10:40 left made Ohios lead 13-10, the All-Stars went on a 25-6 run. Illinois State had a 24-14 lead in halftime rebounding, but the Redbirds, a good three-point shooting team last year, missed all nine of their first-half long shots.
The Redbirds continue exhibition play on Sunday, November 17, against the Chicago Challengers at 2:05 p.m. before opening the regular season at Western Michigan on November 23.
