Katie Donovan scored 10 points during a 22-0 first-half run Illinois State used to fuel an 86-56 win over Southern Illinois as ISU won its seventh straight home game. Donovan led four Redbirds in double figures scoring with 24. Taren OBrien had 13, Zora Skrabalova had 10 points and Jaci McCormack had 11. OBrien added 5 assists and 5 steals.
Illinois State, 10-5 overall, 4-2 in the Valley, joined SIU, Drake and Southwest Missouri State as the only Valley schools with 200 all-time conference wins. ISU is 200-161 in 21 years of league play. The Birds out-shot SIU 50 percent to 39.7 percent on field goals.
SIU, 2-12, 1-4, got 18 points from Tiffany Crutcher, but the Salukis were victimized by 24 turnovers, 14 on ISU steals. The Redbirds had 26 points off turnovers to just 8 for SIU.
Both teams had trouble shooting early, with each team making just 3 of 13 field goals in the first nine minutes. SIU took a 15-13 lead on Wendy Goodmans basket with 8:59 left in the half. Katie Donovans free throw with 8:50 left started a 22-0 Redbird run which included five turnovers by Southern Illinois and 8 of 10 field goals by the Birds. The Birds scored those points in just a little over four minutes. OBriens three-pointer, which came right after Donovans free throw, was the 114th of the season by Illinois State, breaking the teams single-season record set in 1996-97.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton acknowledged a slow start, but was happy that the crowd of 2,445 helped the Birds get into their rhythm.
It took us a little bit to get focused, said Pingeton. Im so happy for these girls. The crowd really generates some energy. Then we started moving the ball a little bit better towards the end of the first half and through the second half. When we make the extra pass, we are a very goot team.
The Birds, who missed their first eight three-pointers, made four in a row late in the first half to help build a 42-26 lead at the break. ISU finished 8 for 21 on three pointers.
SIU coach Lori Opp thought her team lost control of the pace of the game after the first fiew minutes.
We got caught up playing Illinois States game, said Opp. We had kids taking shots off the first pass and that hurt us. Thats not our game. We didnt run our offense and got caught up in what they wanted to do. ISU is playing with confidence and a team with confidence is a hard team to stop.
The Redbirds complete their three-game homestand with a 2:05 p.m. Saturday game against Indiana State.
