Junior guard Beth Huston came to Saturdays late-afternoon practice wearing a shirt sporting a slogan-- In It To Win It--which quickly became a rallying cry for an Illinois State team which feels a rebirth with a bid to the eight-team 2003 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Des Moines.
Beths shirt pretty much summarized how we all feel, said junior forward Stacey White. Its great to have a fresh start. Anything can happen. We know what we have to do and we are excited about it. Just getting into the tournament just isnt enough.
With Southwest Missouri States 107-53 win over Evansville, Illinois State gets the No. 8 seed. The Redbirds, 7-20 overall, 5-13 in the Valley, will play No. 1 seed Creighton, 20-7, 13-5, at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Knapp Center.
The Birds last appeared in the tournament in 1998. Ironically, they will return to the site of their last tournament win, a 64-59 decision over Southern Illinois in the semifinals of the 1996 tournament, also at the Knapp Center. The Birds lost to Southwest Missouri State 59-56 in the title game and went to the Womens NIT that season.
Redbird coach Jenny Yopp agreed with Whites assessment.
With the intensity we showed at practice (Saturday), we demonstrated that we deserved the opportunity to join the race, said Yopp. Practice was an indication that they want to get after it. It shows me were determined to win.
Yopp thinks the Birds caught a break by playing Creighton, a team the saw just a week ago in Omaha.
Creighton and Indiana State are both fantastic teams, but they play a similar style and I think that helps us to be prepared for Creighton, said Yopp, whose Redbirds lost 77-72 to Creighton in January at Redbird Arena and 72-50 last week in Omaha.
Its been a long road for the Redbirds--especially the last three days--and its ironic that Illinois State got the most help from the Lady Bears, a team they beat twice during the regular season. After a ending the regular season with a loss at Indiana State, Illinois State needed four things to happen to get into the tournament: a Wichita State win over Evansville, a Drake loss and two home wins by SMS. The first three things all came through on Thursday. The SMS victory on Saturday sealed the deal, giving SMS the No. 4 seed against tourney host Drake.
Sophomore forward Michelle Harakas didnt care that the Redbirds didnt get in, officially, until three days after their final regular-season game--a 74-54 loss at regular-season co-champion Indiana State.
Nobody cares how we got in and it doesnt matter who we play, said Harakas. What matters is that we go there ready to play and practice today was a different level of intensity. We wanted another chance to prove that were capable of beating those teams and we earned it.
No. 2 seed Indiana State opens the tournament against No. 7 Wichita State, a battle WSU coach Darryl Smith had been lobbying for because the Shockers beat the Sycamores twice during the league season. No. 3 Northern Iowa, which goes into the tournament after beating both Drake and Creighton over the weekend, plays No. 6 Bradley.
The Creighton-ISU winner meets the Drake-SMS winner at 8:30 p.m Friday. The title game is Saturday at 3 p.m.
Evansville and Illinois State both finished 5-13 in league games and split the regular-season series. However, the Redbirds earned the bid on the strength of the Missouri Valleys regression matrix tiebreaker system. It rewards teams for wins over higher-placing teams and gives a bonus point for road wins. Illinois States sweep of SMS and its road wins at Wichita State and Southern Illinois all were enough to overcome Evansville.
#2 Indiana State (20-7, 13-5) vs. #7 Wichita State (13-13, 7-10*), noon
#3 Northern Iowa (17-10, 12-6) vs. #6 Bradley (13-14, 9-9), 2:30 p.m.
#1 Creighton (20-7, 13-5) vs. #8 Illinois State (7-20, 5-13), 6 p.m.
#4 SMS (15-12, 11-7) vs. #5 Drake (16-11, 11-7), 8:30 p.m.
*Wichita State plays Southern Illinois March 9
