Illinois State Basketball
Contact Tom Lamonica
Holly Hallstrom had 20 points and 11 rebounds, including 14 points after halftime, but Illinois State fell 79-78 in overtime in a Missouri Valley Conference womens basketball game Saturday at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
The Birds battled back from a three-point deficit in the last five minutes to tie the score on Hallstroms short jumper with 33 seconds left. After ISU forced a Creighton shot clock violation, Megan McCrackens one-hander to win it bounded off the rim as regulation time expired.
ISU took their last lead at 74-73 on a Katie Donovan free throw with 2:59 let in overtime, but two Codi Walker free throws followed an Angie Janis layup to put Creighton on top 77-74. Jaci McCormack, who had 11 points, hit a jumper with 1:10 left to close the gap, but Laura Spanheimer hit two free throws to put CU up three again. Hallstroms bucket with four seconds left got ISU within one, but, after Spanheimer missed two free throws, ISU wasnt able to get a shot at the end.
The Redbirds, 4-8, 1-2 in the Valley, fell to 0-14 in games at Creighton since the Jays joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 1993. Creighton is 10-3, 4-0 atop the Valley. Janis led the Jays with 25 points and Spanheimer had 19 points to go with eight assists, seven steals and six rebounds. Donovan added 16 for ISU to Amber Sheltons 12. ISU had a 46-38 rebounding edge, but trailed 22-7 in turnovers.
If we can continue to lay it on the line like we did today, were going to get there, said ISU coach Robin Pingeton. We fought hard and gave it a good effort and had some chances, but we turned the ball over way too much. If we play like this, Ill put our team up against anyone in this league.
The Redbirds led by as much as eight points, 26-18, in the first half as Donovan had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists. But Creighton rallied to take a 37-34 halftime advantage on the strength of 11 points off 13 Redbird turnovers. The Birds shot 50 percent from the field and had a 23-17 rebounding advantage, but CU had 10 more shots and six more free throws before the intermission.
ISU went on an 11-1 spurt to open the second half as Creighton missed its first nine shots and the Birds took a 48-38 with 15:32 left after back-to-back threes by Erin Keeney and McCormack. That lead stood at 57-48 with 10:47 left when Creighton went on a 9-0 run to tie at 57-57 with 8:08 left Donovans two free throws put ISU back up 59-57. Creighton went up 62-59 before Hallstrom hit two free throws and a jumper to put ISU back on top, setting up the final two minutes.
Its a tough loss, but give Creighton credit because they fought hard against us, said Pingeton, whose Redbirds are 0-2 in overtime this season. We had some good looks that didnt fall late (in regulation), but were just going to roll up our sleeves and go back to work to get ready for (Fridays home game) with SMS.
The Redbirds return home for a Friday match-up with SMS at 7 p.m. in Redbird Arena and a 2 p.m. game Sunday (Jan. 16) against Wichita State.
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