The Illinois State womens basketball team doesnt have complete control over its own destiny, but a win at Indiana State in the final regular-season game at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Terre Haute would go a long way toward cutting down the watching, waiting and rooting many teams have to face in March.
A win by Illinois State, 7-19, 5-12 in the Valley, would force Evansville (5-11) to win back-to-back road games at Wichita State (Thursday) and at Southwest Missouri State (Saturday) to keep the Redbirds from earning their first bid to the eight-team State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament since 1998 because Illinois State would win based on the second tiebreaker for Valley teams, a regression matrix which gives points for each win--and more for beating teams higher in the standings.
That last win is a tall order for the Birds. Only Wichita State has beaten the Sycamores, 19-7 overall, 12-5 in the Missouri Valley, at Hulman Center this season. On the other hand, the Redbirds are 4-4 in league road games. For Redbird coach Jenny Yopp, the game plan for the Sycamores is easy to describe, hard to execute and similar to the formula against ISUs last opponent, Creighton.
Game-plan wise, it will be similar to what we faced at Creighton, said Yopp. Four great perimeter shooters, dominant rebounders inside and it all starts with their pressure defense. You have to be disciplined every single time down the floor. If we can control the ball and get into our offense, and convert the second shots we need to get from the offensive boards, we can get the job done.
Because they are travel partners playing midweek, the Redbirds and Sycamores will finish their Valley schedules while the other eight teams each have two games left. For the Redbirds, that means a lot of scoreboard watching, particularly if the Sycamores beat them. Illinois State can still get in, but would be rooting for Wichita State and SMS to beat Evansville, and for either Northern Iowa or Bradley to beat Drake this weekend. Since the Birds swept the Bears and Evansville has a win over Drake, its to Illinois States advantage in the tiebreaker system if SMS (9-7) finishes higher and Drake (10-6) lower in the final standings.
For head coach Jim Wiedie and the Sycamores, it means pulling for Bradley and Northern Iowa to beat Creighton, which would give the Sycamores a Valley regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
Its an advantage to have the season wrapped up early, said Wiedie. Then you can spend some time rooting for Bradley and Northern Iowa. We get a few more days of rest and a few more days of preparation time for the tournament. So I like the way the schedule has panned out.
He knows Illinois State is a better team than the one his team thumped 70-51 Jan. 4 in Normal, but he thinks his team has a lot to play for. Wiedie knows that Jaci McCormack has been the hottest Redbird scorer lately, averaging 12.5 points over her last seven games. He respects Taren OBriens point guard leadership and the Redbirds most experienced inside duo of Sharon Blade and Zora Skrabalova.
Illinois State is always a battle, and with the way Jaci McCormack is playing, our emphasis has to be on her, said Wiedie. Taren OBrien can be a big factor for them, and we can expect Sharon Blade and Zora Skrabalova to have a big impact on the game for them as well. To be able to win on Senior Day for (seniors) Kourtney (Mennen) and Kristin (Stewart) who have been through so much here, and to win 20 games for first time in a long time in this program, those are things we want to play for.
The Redbirds have some other things to play for as well. A sixth league win would be the most in five years and a fifth league road win would equal the programs total Valley road wins for the previous four seasons combined. But, most of all, a win could solidify a trip to the conference tournament and a chance to play another time.
