Taren O'Brien had 11 points and 4 assists during a 31-7 Redbird run to start the second half as Illinois State beat Southern Illinois 85-63 in a Missouri Valley Conference basketball game Saturday at SIU Arena. O'Brien led five players in double figures scoring with 20 points, adding 6 assists, 4 steals and no turnovers as Illinois State won its third straight.
Illinois State, 14-8, 8-5 in the Valley, got 19 points from Katie Donovan, 14 from Jaci McCormack, 13 from Zora Skrabalova and 11 from Erin Keeney as the 'Birds swepth the Evansville-Southern Illinois road trip for the second straight year. Donovan had a season-high 11 rebounds as ISU out-boarded SIU 28-17 in the second half. The boards were 44-44 for the game, but the 'Birds had just 7 turnovers--10 less than SIU.
Clarise Jones led Southern Illinois, 3-18, 2-10 in the Valley, with 17 points and Katie Berwanger had 11 rebounds. SIU lost its ninth straight game.
The Redbirds struggled the shoot the ball in the first half, hitting just 12 of 35 from the field. SIU led by as many as nnie in the first half, 23-14, before Keeney and McCormack dranied back-to-back three-pointers to start ISU on an 18-7 run which produced a 32-30 Redbird lead with 1:09 left before intermission. Southern forged a 34-34 halftime te with the help of a Laura Cooper three-pointer anda Vicki Hampton free throw around a pair of O'Brien free throws.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton challenged her team at halftime.
"We told them that we can lay down and just go through the motions in the next 20 minuets or we can come out with a lot of fight," said Pingeton. "We responded well. Teams have to go through tough tmies this time of the year, but this team came out the right way."
The 'right way' began with a McCormack jumper 14 seconds into the second half. Twenty-six seconds later, O'Brien's layup and free throw put ISU up five. McCormack assisted Skrabalova for a layup and the 'Birds were half-way to a 14-0 run in just the first three mniutes of the second half. ISU made its first seven field goals in the second half before 'cooling' to just 52 percent for the half.
Pingeton was particularly proud of O'Brien's efforts as the Redbirds held onto third place in the Valley standings.
"Taren is just a warrior," said Pingeton. "She came through fo rus in such a good way."
O'Brien thought rebounding keyed the second-half blitz. SIU hit just 3 of its first 18 shots -- 11-37 in the second half -- and ISU didn't allow a second-chance scoring opportunity in those first 10 minutes.
"The boards were the key," said O'Brien, who made 8 of 8 free throws as her team made 18 of 19. "We got to the boards and that helped start our fast breaks. When we can fast break, we can put some points up quick. But we need to get hte boards, and we did that in the second half.
The Redbirds, who now have won more games this season than in any season since 1996-97, complete their string of three straight league road games with 1:05 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 22) tipoff at Indiana State before returning to Redbird Arena Feb. 26 against SMS. That game has a special 8:05 p.m. start.
