The first game of the year, the Oakland University womens basketball team ran-up 98 points at Ohio University and still fell eight points short. Combine that with the explosive Illinois State offense which shot 62 percent in the second half and drained 11 three-pointers in an 82-74 win over Ball State, and Redbird Arena could be the site of some offensive fireworks starting at 7:05 p.m. Friday.
Robin Pingeton, whose Redbirds are 1-3, sees a similarity between her team and Eileen Hilliards Grizzlies, 3-2.
They play a lot like we do, said Pingeton. They like to push the ball in transition. They will press a lot and be aggressive on defense. They shoot the three-ball well.
Those were things the Redbirds did in their 82-74 win Wednesday over Ball State.
Megan McCracken, in her Illinois State debut following a foot injury, poured-in 16 points and dished out six assists in the Ball State win. The Redbird perimeter trio of McCracken, Katie Donovan and Jaci McCormack combined for 52 points, 17 assists, 13 rebounds and 19-for-35 field goals. The Redbirds broke away from Ball State by draining three three-point field goals in less than a minute to take their biggest lead, 11 points, into the final three minutes.
Pingeton likes having McCracken play the point and McCormack back at a more-familiar wing spot. McCormack responded with 22 pointsmore than her first three games totaland still found time for four assists. McCormacks five three-pointers were just one short of the Redbird single-game record. Pingeton was pleased with her squads improved ballhandling. The Redbirds had only three turnovers in the final 16 minutes.
We not only handled the ball better in the second half, we moved the ball better, said Pingeton, whose team had assists on 14 of 18 second-half baskets. We had 22 assists for the game and thats a very good number for us.
Pingeton is still using her bench liberally, and most of that bench is young playersincluding freshman forward Amber Shelton, who had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Pingeton also saluted a pair of freshman guards who subbed in strongly against Ball State.
I thought Ashley Sandstead had a huge game for us considering she had been used to starting and had to come off the bench, said Pingeton. She hit two huge shots. Tiffany Hudson did a great job of giving Megan (McCracken) some minutes on the bench. She was just so solid for us.
Oakland averages 75 points per game, starting with 18.2 by Anne Hafeli, who also has 18 of the 37 OU three-point field goals this season. Forward Nicole Piggott follows with 17.4 per game. The Grizzlies record looks even more impressive when considering they havent played a home game yet. Hilliard knows Redbird Arena; as Eileen Shea, she starred for Michigan State teams against the Birds in the early 1990s for four straight years.
Oakland has all five starters back from a 17-11 team last year, said Pingeton. They have a lot of experience and some talented kids off the bench.
The Birds go back on the road next week: Tuesday at Air Force and Saturday at Loyola of Chicago.
