Katie Donovan had 28 points while Zora Skrabalova added 17 and Jaci McCormack 15 before fouling out, but it wasnt enough to prevent Illinois State from a 83-73 defeat at the hands of Indiana State before 2,783 fans Saturday at Redbird Arena.
The Sycamores, 11-5, 5-2 in the Missouri Valley beat the Birds by limiting Illinois State to just .333 from the field, including only 8 of 33 from three-point range. Indiana State shot .473 from the field and made 9 of 16 three-pointers. Erin Rhodes led the Sycamores with 20 points and Kristen Weddle added 15 off the bench, her career high. The Birds won the rebounding battle 43-40 with Donovan leading all players with nine.
The Redbirds, 10-6, 4-3 in the Missouri Valley saw their seven-game home-court winning streak end.
The game was tight in the first 10 minutes, with Indiana State leading 20-18 when Melanie Boeglin hit a three-pointer and Erin Rhodes an 8-foot jumper to put the Sycamores up 25-18 with 8:51 left in the half. That lead stretched to as many as nine as Jaci McCormack, who had 8 early points for Illinois State, and Zora Skrabalova, both had to leave with foul trouble.
McCormack thought the Redbirds didnt come out relaxed enough.
We came out very tight, said McCormack. We needed to loosen up and make our shots.
But the Birds battled back. Indiana State led 31-22 when Taren OBrien hit a pair of free throws with 6:02 left. Free throws by Stacey White, OBrien and Donovan (two) helped slice the Indiana State lead to 36-28. Back-to-back baskets inside by Skrabalova and two more Donovan free throws got the Redbirds within two before Rhodes scored inside to stop the Redbird run. Three more Donovan free throws with 39 seconds left cut the Sycamore advantage to 39-38 at halftime.
The Birds had a chance to tie, trailing 42-40 when OBrien was called for an offensive foul and the Redbird bench was assessed with a technical foul. Boeglin made two free throws and Anne Thatcher drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, giving Indiana State a 47-40 lead with 17:52 left. The Sycamores stretched that lead to 55-46 by the 12-minute mark and Illinois State was in foul trouble with eight in the first eight minutes.
Illinois State made 13 of 17 free throws in the first half, but didnt have an attempt until 6:28 left in the game in the second half.
You have games where you dont make shots, said OBrien. In those games, you need to tighten up your defense. I think we did a good job at that, at times, but we didnt do a good job at staying composed.
Indiana State put the game away late by three hitting tough shots in a four-minute span when the shot clock was under five seconds. Pingeton thought those were key.
Every time we got within six, theyd put the dagger in and theyd make the tough shots, said Pingeton. Bottom line: were going to have make our shots. They shot the ball extremely well. We just couldnt make our shots fall.
The Redbirds head for the road next weekend, with a Thursday game at Wichita State and Saturday game at SMS.
