Behind 15 points by Missouri native Taren O'Brien, Illinois State led early and pressured Southwest Missouri late, but the Lady Bears prevailed 76-63 before a crowd of 7,073 at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears opened the second half with an 11-2 run to extend their lead to double-digits as ISU made just one of its first 6 shots and SMS hit 5 of 7. SMS led by 12 in the first 10 minutes, 55-43, but the Redbirds trimmed that in half with a 9-3 rush, punctuated by an O'Brien trey with 7:49 left. Ninety seconds later, Steph Reichle cut the lead to 60-57 with a three-point basket.
ISU never got closer, though, and the final score with the biggest difference, reflecting late free throws by the Bears. Carolyn Weirick led SMS with 17 points and Charlotte Nelson added 15. Erica Vicente had 10 assists.
Redbird coach Jenny Yopp thought the SMS crowd helped the Bears with that early second-half run.
"It's a great atmosphere here," said Yopp, whose team made a season-high 9 three-point field goals. "Their sixth man, their 'X' factor, helped them to make the at little spurt. It was tough on us because, when the crowd got into it, it was hard for our players to hear what they needed to hear on the court. Give them (the Bears) credit; they came out in the second half and did what they needed to do."
But Yopp was proud of the effort of her team, particularly the Savannah, Mo., native, O'Brien.
"This year, she was ready to return to her home state and return to where she went to camp, and put on a good performance," said Yopp. "Really, I'm proud of our young team because we certainly gave the best effort we have had here (in Springfield) in the time I've been at Illinois State. We had some foul trouble and got behind, but we never stopped battling."
After SMS took an early 3-2 lead, Katie Donovan, who finished with 11 points, drained a three-pointer with 17:51 left to start a 13-4 Redbird run, punctuated by a basket-and-free throw three-point play by O'Brien and a Stacey White three-point basket as Illinois State took a 15-7 lead with 14:11 left in the half.
Nicole Lehman came off the SMS bench to ignite a Bears rally which brought SMS back to a 23-22 lead. Second-chance points and Redbird turnovers helped SMS, but the 'Birds responded with a three-pointer by Beth Huston to retake the lead despite the 'Birds missing White and Kristi Larson most of the half because of foul trouble.
ISU took its last lead of the half on Stacey Nickerson's try with 1:21 left, but Charlotte Nelson's rebound basket and two Carolyn Weirick free throws helped SMS lead 35-32 at the intermission. The Redbirds shot 62.5 percent from the field and made 5 of 7 three-pointers.
The win for SMS, 15-9, 11-4 in the Valley, was the 200th league win for Lady Bears coach Cheryl Burnett, enabling her to surpass former Southern Illinois coach Cindy Scott for the all-time league wins record. Retired Illinois State coach Jill Hutchison is No. 3 with 170 from 1983-99. It was win No. 11 in a row for the Bears over Illinois State.
Illinois State, 6-19 overall, 4-12 in the Valley, is still in contention for a bid to the State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, which the Bears host March 7-9.
