Jaci McCormack and Taren O'Brien had 13 points each and O'Brien had fiev steals, but Illinois State fell to a Northern Iowa team which took advantage of a 34-14 free throw edge and pulled away from a 50-50 second half tie for a 72-63 victory.
UNI, which lost two starters to season-ending injuries in February, got 22 points from Emily Berry and 14 from Amy Swisher, plus a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double from Cassie Hager. UNI, 10-17, 6-12 in the Missouri Valley, won the battle of the boards and taht was an indicator of the difference in the game according to Redbird head coach Robin Pingeton, whose team lost its fourth straight game.
"Maybe I'm old school, but I think it takes heart, effort, determination and guts, and we don't seem to be there right now," said Pingeton. "Look at what Northern Iowa has gone through, the trials and tribuations,a nd how they have answered that. It's a tribute to them."
The Panthers won their third straight and earned a bid to the State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with the win, claiming the No. 7 seed. The 'Birds, the No. 5 seed, will play No. 4 Indiana State at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the final quarterfinal game of the day.
The 'Birds end the regular season 15-12 overall, 9-9 in the Valley after getting just five offensive rebounds for the game. After hitting their first six field goal attempts in the second half, ISU made only 6 of 27 in the final 16 minutes.
UNI led 10-6 after the first five minutes of the game before the 'Birds hit four straight shots--two Michelle Harakas layups, an Erin Keeney jumper and a Keeney three-pointer--good for nine points to take a 15-10 lead with 13:04 left in the half. But UNI caught up three minutes later to tie the score at 17-17 and neither team led by more than four the rest of the half. The Panthers were ahead 39-35 at intermission.
Aggressive Redbird defense produced three early second-half O'Brien layups off turnovers and a Beth Huston three-pointer to put the Redbirds ahead 44-40 after three minutes. O"Brien had three of her game-high five steals in the first four minutes of the second half. ISU led 48-47 for more nearly five minutes before Berry broke the drought with a bucket-and-one three-point play to give UNI a 50-48 lead. McCormack tied it with a jumper at 8:10, but Swisher, palying with fuor fouls, hit a jumper and a three on back-to-back trips. Then Berry added two free throws for a 7-0 run and a 57-50 UNI lead with 6:53 left.
The Panthers finished the win with a parade to the free throw line, hitting 10 of 14 in the final four minutes to pull away.
