Jenny Yopps Illinois State team is looking to end a home-court losing streak. Paula Buschers Bradley team is looking for a turnaround after a 43-point road loss at Indiana State. One of them will feel better about her teams situation after Sundays 2:05 p.m. match-up between the Birds and Braves at Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds, 5-14 overall, 3-7 in the Missouri Valley, couldnt stop Amy Swisher--she had 34 points--and that was their undoing in a 71-59 loss to Northern Iowa on Friday in Redbird Arena. Sharon Blade, making her first start of the season in relief of the injured Michelle Harakas, responded with 13 points and 7 rebounds for ISU.
The Braves, 8-11 overall, 4-6 in the Valley, couldnt stop the turnovers, committing 35 in 40 minutes of a 98-55 loss at league leader Indiana State on Friday. Prior to that, the Braves had won 5 of 7 including the first meeting between Illinois State and Bradley a month ago in Robertson Field House.
When we played them in Peoria, we got behind early and ran out of time at the end, said Yopp. Now they have (leading scorer) Sara Bailey back, and we expect them to press us tough, to trap us and come after us.
Bailey, the Braves leading scorer at 13.7 per game, didnt play against the Birds in Peoria. She left the team for two games, but returned the following week.
Buscher is glad she has returned. Bailey scored 14 against Indiana State in her last outing.
Ive always believed that players and young people deal with adversity better than us older people, said Buscher, a former Redbird assistant in the 1980s. I welcomed her back on the team. Shes finally looking to do the other things (than score) in the game.
Since Baileys hiatus, though, freshman Ashley Cheleen has been the go-to Bradley scorer. She leads the conference in field goal percentage with 62.2 percent, including 7 of 11 in Bradleys win over the Redbirds.
Buscher respects the Redbirds and sees 6-foot-5 junior-college transfer center Zora Skrabalova as a particular challenge for her team.
Illinois State has been playing extremely well, said Buscher. Maybe they havent won some games, but they have shown they can be really competitive. Zora is like lots of junior college kids; they feel more comfortable on the court as the season goes on.
Skrabalova, a native of the Czech Republic, is averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds over her last five games for Illinois State.
