Michelle Harakas came off the Illinois State bench to score a career-high 15 points, leading Illinois State to a 70-62 win over Bradley in Missouri Valley Conference basketball Sunday. Harakas led five players in double figures for the Redbirds.
The opening was just there for me, and I felt I just needed to step up and show everyone what I could do, said Harakas.
With the win, the Redbirds improve to 4-7 in the Valley and 6-14 overall, while the Braves drop to 4-7 in the Valley and 13-7 overall.
Sara Bailey led Bradley with 29 points, 16 in the first half, but had just five more in the first 16 minutes of the second half as Illinois State built leads as big as 14 points. Bradley made just 7 of its first 28 field goal attempts after halftime. ISU had a 63-49 lead with 4:30 left, but the Braves put on a rush. Bailey hit the second of back-to-back treys to trim the Redbird lead to 65-62 with 1:12 remaining. But
Steph Reichle, who had 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, answered for Illinois State, hitting five free throws for the final five points of the game as Illinois State got three straight stops on the defensive end.
They handled our defensive pressure and just executed a lot better than the first time we played, said Bailey.
Reichle was where she wanted to be in the final minute.
Every player wants to be at the line and knock them down late, said Reichle, who had her fifth career double-double.
Katie Donovan hit her first three shots, all on drives to the basket, and
Kristi Larson, who finished with 13 points, had four early buckets as ISU took a 22-17 lead after 11 minutes. But Sara Mozingo came off the bench to hit a three-pointer to spark a 5-0 Bradley run for the tie. After Larson scored again, Bradley took a 25-24 lead on Kayla Hackmans trey. ISU responded with a 6-0 run to put the Birds up 30-25 with 3:44 left in the half.
Illinois State did a great job of dribble penetration, and I felt we put them at the line way to many times, said Bradley coach Paula Buscher.
The Redbirds led 36-31 at halftime despite Donovan, Larson and
Taren O'Brien, who came back to score 10 points, missing significant minutes with foul trouble. When
Chris Kutschinski hit Harakas with a pass for a layup just ahead of the horn, the Birds had matched their 40-minute point total in a 71-36 loss to the Braves Jan. 4 in Peoria. With a 53 percent shooting mark and a 13-9 turnover edge, it was a huge turnaround from the 30-percent shooting, 24-turnover performance in Peoria.
Clearly I think today solidified that we can put behind us the first meeting with Bradley, said Illinois State coach
Jenny Yopp, whose team didnt score a three-point field goal for the first time in 57 contests. We are a much better team than we were the first time we saw Bradley.
Stacey White, who scored 12 points, hit a one-hander put the Birds ahead 38-31 in the opening seconds of the second half, but Rasheeda Love started Bradley on a 7-0 roll with a three-pointer which hit the front of the rim, spun up and dropped in. Dena Williams tied the score at 38-each with a low-post shot.with 16:56 left in the second half.
White hit another short shot to put the Birds back in the lead, 40-38 with 14:59 left. Illinois State stretched the lead to 14 with a 20-6 run starting with Whites bucket.
The Redbirds will return to action on the road against Creighton on Thursday and Drake on Saturday.
