Holly Hallstrom had 17 second-half points, and Jaci McCormack had 10 points, five assists and five steals, but her Illinois State Redbirds couldnt overcome deficits in free throws and personal fouls in a 72-64 loss at Southwest Missouri State in a Missouri Valley Conference womens basketball game Thursday at Hammons Student Center.
Katie Donovan had 12 points and seven rebounds for Illinois State, which trailed by 65-53 with 4:28 left in the game, but Hallstrom, who made eight of 10 field goals, scored the next seven points and Donovan hit a jumper to pull ISU within 67-62 with 0:48 left. After a Kari Koch free throw, Hallstroms jumper got ISU within 68-64 with 18 seconds left, but SMS scored the last four points to pull away.
We had some trouble with their zone in the first half, but we were able to drive and hit Holly and she finished the shots in the second half, said Donovan.
The Redbirds, 7-14, 4-8 in the Valley, will be looking for their first road win of the conference season at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wichita State. SMS got 23 points apiece from Jenni Lingor and Kari Koch as the Bears won their 21st straight home game against Missouri Valley opponents. Illinois State was the last Missouri Valley team to beat the Bears, 15-6, 10-2 in the Valley, at the Hammons Student Center, but that was two years ago.
ISUs 26 fouls led to a 32-13 deficit in free throw attempts, but Redbird coach Robin Pingeton thought her team never gave up.
You have to control the things you can control, said Pingeton. We could have thrown in the towel in the second half, but we didnt. This team kept battling back and we had some opportunities. But give credit to Koch and Lingor, they are two of the leagues best and showed it tonight. SMS has some players behind them, too.
The Redbirds played good defense and handled the ball well from the outset, but shot-after-shot rolled around the rim and out or rattled in the cylinder before coughing out. The Birds were 0-9 and trailed 9-0 when Katie Donovan hit a driving layup to get ISU on the board at the 15:03 mark. Erin Keeney followed with a three-pointer on the next possession to cut the SMS lead to 9-5, but threes by Nicole Lehman and Lingor helped the Bears go back up 15-7.
The Redbird shooting got dramatically better after the 0-9 start as the Birds hit eight of 11 shots, including a pair of pull-up jumpers by McCormack, the second of which put ISU ahead 20-19 with 9:12 left in the half. SMS came back with an 8-2 run to take a 27-22 lead with 7:21 left.
ISU responded with a pair of Donovan free throws, a turnaround jumper in heavy traffic by McCormack and Ashley Sandsteads baseline jumper. ISU trailed 29-28 after another Sandstead jumper with 3:19 left, but Koch scored the final eight points of the half to take a 37-28 lead into the intermission. Lingor (14) and Koch (13) scored 27 of those 37 SMS points.
The second of two there-point plays by Sophie Tirtiaux helped the Birds battle back within 40-37 with 17 minutes left and Hallstroms layup with 15:47 left brought ISU back within 40-39. The Redbirds continued to chase SMS as McCormack had a good look at a three to give ISU a lead with 13:20 left, but didnt hit it. Redbird foul trouble and SMS free throws By the eight-minute mark,
Megan McCracken, McCormack, Tirtiaux all with four fouls and Donovan with three each and the Birds couldnt stop SMS from pulling away.
