Jaci McCormack scored 14 points to lead Illinois State, but Evansville hit seven straight shots in the first half to open a 24-point lead and beat the Redbirds 77-63 Thursday at Redbird Arena in a Missouri Valley Conference game.
Illinois State (5-11, 2-6) trailed 51-29 at halftime as Evansville made 59 percent of its shots. For the game, the Aces shot 53 percent to Illinois States 41 percent. UE made 11 of 22 three-pointers, including a fallaway, lefthanded 22-footer by Alissa Kirby just as the shot clock expired to give the Aces a 20-14 lead. That was the second of those seven straight makes for UE.
Earlier, Courtney Felke drained a three to give Evansville (12-5, 5-3) a 15-9 lead at the 13:06 mark, and it was downhill for the Redbirds from there. After a Katie Donovan jumper, followed by a successful free throw attempt, Evansville took control and went on a 10-2 run to increase the lead to 25-14.
The Aces; dominance didnt stop there, as the treys kept falling and the gap widened to 37-21 by the 6:06 mark, on the three-point shooting of Kirby, Megan Liffick and Felke. The cold-shooting Birds only managed to score eight more points in the remainder of the half, to take a 51-29 deficit into the locker room at half time. Liffick and Sarah Hyslop finished with 13 points for UE while Felke and Kirby had 12 each.
In the second half Evansville picked up right where it left off as Liffick landed a three-point shot to make the score 54-31. In the next minutes the two teams traded points for most of the half. Evansville led by as many as 25 points in the second, before a late run by the Redbirds made the final score 77-63.
Sophomore guard
Megan McCracken, who had 12 points, was disappointed with the loss, but optimistic the team will find a way to win.
I have to give credit to Evansville, they played a great game, said McCracken. We knew they had some three-point shooters and can shoot the ball extremely well, we prepared for that, but again, I credit them for getting their job done. They also played great defense, and just came out tough and stayed that way until the end.
Illinois State head coach Robin Pingeton echoed McCrackens disappointment as well as her confidence in the Redbirds ability to come back from such a tough loss.
Im going to give Evansville a ton of credit, they played hard, and with a ton of confidence, said Pingeton. It seemed like they shot the ball extremely well, but on the flip side of that we need to defend better. We can not give up 51 points in one half, its not possible to win games when you do that. The bottom line is they played harder than we did, especially in the first half.
I can say, though, I was very pleased with the play of our bench in the second half, said Pingeton. Cat Graham specifically played with a lot of guts and toughness out there, diving for balls and playing hard to the very end. Obviously what were doing right now as a team isnt working, so were going to have to go back to work until we can figure out something that does.
The Birds return to action Saturday, February 6 when Southern Illinois visits Redbird Arena. Illinois State will take on the Valley foe in a 7:05 contest.
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