Sophie Tirtiauxs career high 19 points against Western Michigan wasnt enough to carry her team to a victory Sunday, as the Broncos used a 15-0 run early in the second half to jump-start a 79-57 win over Illinois State at Redbird Arena.
The 22-point loss had Tirtiaux unimpressed by her individual totals, which included 6-8 field goals and 5-5 free throws plus 5 rebounds in just 14 minutes on the court.
Its a team sport, I really dont care how many points I score, Tirtiaux said. We need to continue to work hard and to improve as a team. We have been losing for four years and we want to win.
Tirtiaux made her first six shots, en-route to her best scoring day as a Redbird. But Western Michigan won the turnover and offensive rebound battle, as the Redbirds gave the ball away 25 times to the Broncos 20, while the Broncos out-rebounded Illinois State on the offensive glass 22-12. Total, the Redbirds were out-rebounded 50-36.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton thought the WMU game plan worked better than hers.
We got in a hole in the first half and couldnt dig ourselves out of it, head coach Robin Pingeton said. Western Michigan had a great game plan. Theres a lot to learn from this game. Were going to break the film down, learn from this and move on.
Illinois State made things interesting in the first half when a Katie Donovan jumper cut the Western Michigan lead to 21-18, but that was as close as they would get. An 8-0 run by the Broncos increased the lead to 29-18 as Kelly Koerber scored six of those eight points.
Tirtiaux scored Illinois States next seven points, but a Carrie Moore three-pointer with five seconds left in the half increased the Western Michigan lead to 11 at 36-25.
Western Michigan won the first half battle on the glass with 16 offensive rebounds, as the Broncos outscored the Birds on second chance points 11-4.
WMU coach Ron Stewart was concerned about stopping ISUs three-point shooting and getting the ball inside, and his team was successful.
We did a good job on their three-point shooters because that concerned us, said Stewart. Offensively, we wanted to punch the ball inside and we were able to do it. Our defensive game plan, though, was based on statistics. We saw what they had done before.
Tirtiaux surpassed her career-high in points with a three-pointer early in the second half, cutting the Bronco lead to 38-28. A lay-up by Erin Keeney made the score 46-32, but the Redbirds suffered a dry spell for the next 5:27 as Western Michigan would go on a 15-0 run to pull away.
Tirtiaux stopped the bleeding with 11:00 left, scoring a lay-up and free throw, making the score 61-35.
Katie Donovan was second in scoring for the Redbirds with 11 points, while Maria Jilian (14), Casey Rost (21), Moore (17) and Koerber (11) all chipped in double figures for Western Michigan.
The Redbirds play Tuesday at Ball State before going to Chicago for a Saturday game with Illinois at the United Center.
