Katie Donovan had 16 points, while Desiree Gutierrez added 11 and Jaci McCormack 10 off the bench as Illinois State rode a huge first-half edge to beat IUPUI 76-60 in a womens college basketball non-conference game Friday at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State built a 40-21 halftime edge by dominating offense, defense and rebounding. Eight different Redbirds scored in the first half led by Zora Skrabalovas eight points and six rebounds. . ISU limited the Jaguars to just 9 of 25 from the field while hitting 16 of 31 on their own end.
Stacey Whites first half was brilliant at both ends of the floor. Although she scored just four points, she had eight rebounds, five assists and a steal. Making her first start of the season, Whites eight rebounds were one less than IUPUI had as a team as the Redbirds had a 29-7 rebounding advantage at halftime. ISU limited the Jaguars to just 9 of 25 from the field while hitting 16 of 31 on their own end.
Donovan thought Whites early-game effort made a difference.
Our team did a lot to get the job done in the first half, particularly on the boards, said Donovan. Stacey helped us be aggressive from the beginning. Its great to be out there with her.
Redbird coach Jenny Yopp agreed.
Stacey has improved her athleticism and today she came out aggressive, said Yopp. When shes aggressive, she can defend one-on-one and get rebounds for us.
Ball movement against IUPUIs press and half-court zone was key and the Redbirds broke the press for the final time in the first half with Whites 40-foot assist to Erin Keeney, who banked-in a 14-footer before the buzzer.
With ISU leading 14-8 at the 11:20 mark, Jaci McCormack, who had eight first-half points, coupled with White on an unusual five-point play to give the Birds a double-digit lead. White missed a three-pointer but was fouled. She converted the first two free throws, but McCormack rebounded her miss on the third one, put in the bucket and sank a free throw of her own to put ISU ahead 19-8. The Birds held double-digit leads the rest of the way until the break.
The Redbirds, 1-2, shot 52 percent from the field making 27 of 52.
The Jaguars, 1-3, made just 33 percent of their field goals, but got a great performance from the free throw line from Natalie Hendricks, who scored 11 of her game-high 19 points on free throws. IUPUI was 20-30 from the line to Illinois States 20-27.
Jaguar coach Kris Simpson, whose team took Iowa to overtime just last week before falling in Iowa City, thought her team played better in the second half, but couldnt convert enough offensive opportunities to get back in the game.
We were so frantic on defense that we were a little too frantic on offense, said Simpson. Thats going to happen when you work that hard on defense, then have to be more composed to score. Its a tough thing for kids to do. Their aggressiveness (Illinois States) hurt us early. That first-half rebounding is about the ugliest stat Ive seen.
The Redbirds conclude a three-game home stand with a 2:05 p.m. game with Illinois, 1-0, Sunday at Redbird Arena.
NOTE: A computer malfunction has delayed the compilation of game stats. They will be sent later.
