Since her Illinois State Redbird team scored 85 in its opener and Western Michigan went for 117 in its last game, Redbird coach Robin Pingeton believes the action in Sunday's 2 p.m. basketball game between Illinois State and Western Michigan at Redbird Arena will be worth the cost of a ticket.
"I think the fans will get their money's worth," said Pingeton, whose Redbirds thumped Air Force 85-49 in their opener in Wednesday, breaking two single-game three-point field goal percentage records. "Western Michigan will be a good test for us. But if we want to get on the map, and have people respect us, this is the kind of competition we have to compete with."
The 'Birds have a variety of offensive weapons led by junior Katie Donovan, whose improvement offensively from last year's 7.4 points per game to a 22-point start this season might be best illustrated by the fact that she made five three-point field goals in each of her first two seasons at Illinois State ... and hit four of them in the Air Force game.
Donovan has plenty of offensive support, as illustrated by Stacey White's five three-pointers for 16 points and Taren O'Brien's career-high tying eight assists against Air Force.
Pingeton looks for her team to improve.
"Every game the stakes go up and the competition gets tougher in non-conference games," said Pingeton. "But that's what you go through the non-conference season for; it prepares you for the conference season in a lot of ways."
Western Michigan, 1-2, was a 117-90 winner over UMKC, set a WMU single-game scoring record with a 40-point performance from guard Casey Rost, who hit all 16 of her free throws. She had 21 last year when the Broncos beat the 'Birds 100-79 in the season opener for both teams in Kalamazoo. The Broncos, coached by Ron Stewart, swept throught the Mid-American Conference Tournament last year to earn an NCAA bid, finishing 20-12.
The two Bronco losses were to Michigan and Connecticut.
"I don't know if you can stop Rost, but we have to find a way to contain her," said Pingeton. "We have similar styles and we'll have our hands full. We will have to execute defensively both on-ball and off-ball. We'll have to improve our rotations and prevent weakside rebounds."
It's been eight years since a Redbird team has won its first two games. That 1996-97 team, which earned an NIT bid at the end of the season, won at Central Michigan and beat Arizona State at home. Finishing with a 19-13 record, that team included stars Melanie Ward, Corinne Vossel, Jenny Schmidt and Val Trame.
The Redbirds go on the road for their third game of the year, facing Ball State in Muncie, Ind.
