Head Coach Robin Pingeton believes her red hot Illinois State basketball team will have to address rebounding issues and be ready for an opponent 'with nothing to lose' in Sunday's 2:05 p.m. Redbird match-up with Bradley which will air on Fox Sports Television. ISU is looking to extend its current six-game winning streak in front of a big crowd on 'Pack the Arena' day.
The 'Birds, 7-3, 1-0 in the Missouri Valley, are the hottest ISU women's basketball team in seven years, looking for their seventh straight win on the heels of an 83-74 victory Friday over Northern Iowa.
But Pingeton knows the Illinois State-Bradley rivalry is strong, and she believes the 2-8, 0-1 Braves are much better than that record shows.
"Bradley's record is deceiving," said Pingeton. "They are a scary team despite their 2-8 record. They are very physical inside. I am very concerned about this game because we will have a to face an opponent with a 'nothing-to-lose' mentality. If we aren't focused, we will be in trouble."
The Braves average 57 points per game and have reached 60 just twice this season. The Redbirds are averaging 71.4 points per game for the season, 75 per game during their six-game win streak. The 83 points against Northern Iowa matched the most by a Redbird team at home against a Valley opponent in 94 league games.
The Redbirds make their first Valley road trip Jan. 10 at Creighton and Jan. 12 at Drake.
Pingeton thinks the Redbirds, who beat Northern Iowa despite surrendering 28 offensive rebounds, will have to do a better job on the boards against a Bradley team which features 6-foot-3 Ashley Chelleen and 6-foot-4 Dena Williams.
"Bradley will crash (the boards) extremely hard," said Pingeton, whose top rebuonder is junior Erin Keeney with 6.3 per game. "We've shown signs this year we can control the boards, but we haven't proven we can do it consistently."
Fueled by aggressive defense, the Redbird offense has flourished during the winning streak. Katie Donovan's 22.5 points per game lead four Redbirds in double figures (Jaci McCormack, 14.0, Taren O"Brien 10.2 and Zora Skrabalova 10.0, with Keeney just three points under 10.0 for the six games).
ISU has averaged 1.9 more rebounds per game than their six opponents, but has surrendered 16.5 offensive rebounds per game. The result is 10 more shots per game by Redbird rivals, but a .345 field goal percentage is proof that the ISU defense is denying a lot of second-chances.
A year ago, the Braves earned just the second season sweep in series history and the first since 1986. A year ago (Jan. 11, 2003), the teams met on Fox TV in Peoria, with Bradley winning 63-59 after ISU had sliced a 17-point deficit to two late in the game. Chelleen scored a career-high 21 points. A month later, Bradley had four players in double figures in a 70-54 win in Normal.
ISU leads the series 27-14, but Bradley has won three in a row and has won five times in 12 previous games in Redbird Arena.
Another win for ISU would match the 'Birds their highest season win total since the 1997-98 team won 11. Beating Bradley would mean the 'Birds would be 2-0 in conference play for the first time in seven years and just the third time in 12 years.
