Dec. 30, 2005
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. -
Kristi Cirone led five Illinois State players in double figures scoring with 16, but that wasn't enough to overcome a15-point first half deficit as the Redbirds fell 87-65 to Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference opening game for both teams Friday night at Redbird Arena.
Southern Illinois' Carlai Moore led all scorers with a career-high 31 points and eight rebounds and sophomore guard Jayme Sweere matched her career-high, scoring 28 points and adding eight rebounds.
Illinois State, 5-5, 0-1 got a career-high 12 points from Lashawn Johnson and 10 each from Megan McCracken, Amber Shelton and Holly Hallstrom, but could not find a rhythm on the offensive end. Averaging seven three-pointers per game heading into the contests, the Redbirds struggled from beyond the arc, hitting only one of 12 shots.
Southern Illinois, 5-5, 1-0 has shown a drastic improvement from last season. The Salukis broke a four game losing streak to the Redbirds, and posted their first victory in a Missouri Valley Conference opener since 1999-2000.
The Salukis dominated the first half, backed by the sharp shooting of Sweere, who had 18 points at the break on 7 for 13 shooting. Moore also chipped in 13 points and the Salukis finished the half hitting over 50 percent of their shots.
The Salukis' defensive pressure also gave the Redbirds trouble, with the Salukis capitalizing with 12 points off of Redbird turnovers. The glass belonged to the Salukis, holding the rebounding edge 23-13. Southern Illinois led by as many as 15 points and finished the half leading the Redbirds 45-30.
The Salukis proved the first half was not a fluke as they came out firing to begin the second period. The Salukis continued to shoot well from the field, knocking down 50 percent of their shots. The Salukis led by as many as 22 points, and out rebounded the Redbirds 41-29, with 31 coming on the defensive end. SIU shot as season best 50.8 percent from the field.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton was disappointed and, in the post-game press conference, apologized to the crowd of 3,074--the largest in two years at Illinois State.
"We got our buts kicked," said Pingeton, "but this was a tremendous crowd tonight and I want to apologize for this outing. We want those fans to continue to support us. Sometimes, it's not about the Xs and Os, but about heart and guts and Southern showed tonight that good things happen when you leave it all out there on the court."
Southern Illinois head coach Dana Eikenberg was pleased with the effort on the defensive end from the Salukis.
"Tonight was our best game this season," said Eikenberg. "Coming into tonight's game, we were unsure on how we would play on the defensive end. We spent a lot of time working on our defense in practice this week and it carried over into the game and created a lot of opportunites for us tonight."
The Redbirds were playing without two starters: sophomore guard Ashley Sandstead and freshman center Nicolle Lewis both suffered season-ending knee injuries within the past two weeks. But sophomore forward Amber Shelton wouldn't let the injuries be an excuse.
"You have to be ready to go every night," said Shelton. "We weren't tonight and we have to get things turned around."
The Redbirds play their second Missouri Valley Conference game of the season at 2:05 p.m. Sunday game against Evansville at Redbird Arena.
