Taren OBrien and the Illinois State womens basketball team held Southwest Missouri State in check from behind the arc in the first half, but could not hold off a second half assault from beyond the three point line from the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the nation, as SMS defeated the Redbirds, 64-47, at Redbird Arena.
The loss drops the Redbirds to 15-9, 9-6 in the Valley, and ends a four game winning streak. The Bears are now 24-2, 15-1 in the Valley and have won their fourth straight and their 22nd in 24 games.
SMS opened the first three minutes of the first half on a 6-2 run, thanks in large part to solid post play from Meg Tierney, who accounted for four points during that span. An OBrien three at the 17:02 mark ignited a 17-2 run over the next six minutes. The Birds forced SMS into missing seven straight shots and led 19-8 before Tierneys jumper started SMS on a 12-2 run to close the half and narrow the Redbird lead at halftime to 21-20. It marked the first time that SMS had trailed at half all season.
The game was billed as a battle of two of the top 10 three-point shooting teams in the nation, but neither team could connect from beyond the arc in the first half. The Birds held SMS to 1-13 shooting from downtown, and only managed to hit 3-11 of their own three-point attempts.
The Redbirds were first to heat up from behind the arc in the second half, as Erin Keeney connected on her first three point attempt of the half, and OBrien hit back to back threes to give the Birds a six point lead, 30-24, at the 17:43 mark. SMS answered with a three point barrage of their own at the 15:13 mark, with Jenni Lingor accounting for 4 of 5 three pointers during a 15-2 run over three minutes. SMS was 9-14 overall in the second half from behind the three-point circle.
OBrien and Zora Skrabalova kept the Birds close as the duo scored all ten points during a 10-5 run that brought the Birds to within seven, 52-45, at the 7:21 mark, but it would prove to be as close as the Birds would get the rest of the game. SMS closed the game on a 10-2 run over the last eight minutes, giving the Bears the win, 64-47.
OBrien lead the Birds with 15 points, as Katie Donovan, the Valleys leading scorer, was held to a season low 8 points, with only one point in the second half. Lingor lead all scorers with 16 points, with Tierney chipping in 13 for SMS.
The Redbirds finish their home regular-season schedule with a 2:05 p.m. Sunday game against Wichita State in Redbird Arena.
