When Illinois State went to practice on Wednesday, the normally dark message board on the main scoreboard in Redbird Arena was alight with one word: Believe. Well, the Redbirds not only believed, but made believers out of the Southwest Missouri State Bears in Thursdays 60-56 win at Hammons Student Center. Now, Illinois States faith will be tested anew in a Saturday night road matchup against Wichita State team fresh from its own impressive victory over Missouri Valley Conference leader Indiana State 87-84 on Thursday.
Redbird coach Jenny Yopp believes that Wichita State will be that much tougher because the Shocks have put their own losing streak behind them--their first win after five straight losses since taking over first place in the Valley with a 78-57 win over the Redbirds in Normal.
They proved they have players so capable of competing with, and beating, any team in the league, said Yopp. Now, they can see their confidence grow from winning and that will make them that much tougher to beat.
But Yopp believes she has a tougher bunch to meet the Shockers this time around. The battle-tested Redbirds have won their last three road games and, with a win at WSU, could move within a game of fifth place in the cluttered middle of the Valley standings. Now, they are in a position to join just five other teams in the last 14 years (one of them Illinois State in 1997) to beat both SMS and WSU on the same trip. The win at SMS included riding out a serious late-game challenge by the Bears which was fueled by a raucous crowd of more than 5,600 in Hammons.
We stayed focused on the things we wanted to do, said Yopp, who had a game official run right past her and not hear her shouts for a time out in the waning minutes. That is so difficult to do when you have a crowd like that. But thats the best focus weve had on the court from this team. We had tremendous leadership from several players, and it seemed like everyone showed great recognition of what needed to be done on the court.
In a wacky year for the Valley, the 12-9, 6-6 Shockers own both victories over the 17-4, 10-2 Sycamores. The Birds are 6-15 overall, 4-8 in the Valley and have a three-game road winning streak for the first time in 11 seasons.
The Shockers are paced by junior Angela Buckner, who had 15 points and 22 rebounds in Thursdays win over Indiana State. The Redbirds have been getting a scoring boost from sophomores Jaci McCormack and Katie Donovan in recent games. McCormack is averaging 11.7 points per game over her last six, while Donovan is scoring 11.8 in her last five games. The sophomore from Canada tied a 21-year-old Redbird record by hitting all seven of her field goals at SMS. She is shooting 62 percent from the field over her last five games.
But their poise on the court has impressed Yopp most, especially during a win over SMS in which ISU led wire-to-wire.
Katies shots were all layups early, said Yopp. But the big thing is that she finished every one of them, even when she got fouled. Down the stretch, she recognized that SMSs defense was taking away her drive and gave us the passing and defense we needed.
McCormacks last two field goals--one a floating three-pointer against a dying shot clock--both temporarily quieted the screaming throng.
Down the stretch, we saw the ice in Jacis nerves, said Yopp. She made some big, big shots, but also was a key to our defense.
