Junior Jaci McCormacks bank shot with 18seconds left in overtime led Illinois State to its seventh straight win in a row, a 79-78 decision over Bradley Sunday at Redbird Arena before a crowd of 2,059. The game featured an 8-minute interruption by a power failure, as weather problems affected power throughout Central Illinois.
McCormacks winning shot gave her a game-hbigh 19 points for ISU, now 8-3 overall, 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. She added 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. She was ready for the final shot.
That last shot is a written play we have but its not necessarily for me to take, McCormack said. They didnt play the drive so I just took the shot to get that win for us.
Taren OBrien, who scored 14 points before fouling out with 1:27 left in overtime, was confident in McCormack making the winning basket, which allowed ISU to come back from a 76-70 deficit in the final two minutes.
My heart was racing on the bench, OBrien said. Jaci is an unbelieveable player and if anyone is going to have the ball at the end of the game we want it to be Jaci.
Amy Fuller, who had 20 points, hit a jumper to give BU 76-70 lead with 2:08 left in overtime. Katie Donovan, who had 15 points for ISU, hit two free throws to cut that lead to four and Erin Keeneys three-pointer got the Birds within one at 76-75 with 1:15 left. Zora Skrabalova, who had 14 points for ISU, hit two free throws to put the Birds ahead 77-76 with 41 seconds left, but Fuller answered that effort with 28 seconds left, hitting two free throws of her own. That set-up McCormacks dash to the basket and pull-up jumper off the glass. Bradley had two shots to win in the waning seconds, but couldnt convert.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton was happy with McCormacks leadership in the overtime.
Jaci has played point guard for us on and off, said Pingeton. When she is in we usually go with motion offense instead of our play calls.. Jaci read the defense and attacked the basket.
The Redbirds jumped to a 17-point first half lead by hitting 10 of their first 14 field goals and 6 of their first 7 three-pointers.Bradley led 5-3 on Genny Muellers three-pointer with 17;48 left in the half, but the Birds went on a 15-0 run over the next three minutes to take an 18-5 lead.. Donovan scored eight of those points. Illinois States biggest lead came at 12:24 left in the half with two straight three-pointers from Jaci McCormack to give the Birds a 26-9 lead.
But the Braves came back with the help of 13 turnovers, rallying to within 31-27 with 5:08 left in the half and trailing just 39-33 at intermission. Taren OBrien, McCormack, and Donovan all were in double figures at 3:08 and helped Illinois State stay ahead of the Braves.
ISU led 52-46 when the game was interrupted by a power outage. The officials time out at 11:07 was extended to eight minutes before enough lighting was restored to resume play. With Dena Williams, who had 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, leading the way, Bradley, 2-9, 0-2, scrambled back to earn a 61-61 tie with 2:48 left.. The teams traded points until Williams jumper with 23 seconds left sent the game to overtime.
Genny Mueller had 24 points to lead all scorers.
The Redbirds begin their first Valley road trip Saturday at Creighton.
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