Katie Donovan had 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and Amber Shelton matched her career high with 14 for Illinois State, but it wasnt enough to overcome another devastating free throw deficit as Northern Iowa downed Illinois State 69-64 in a Missouri Valley Conference womens basketball game Thursday at Redbird Arena.
Cassie Hagar had 12 of her 14 points in the first half as the Panthers beat the Redbirds for the 13th time in 15 games. Emily Berry added 16 and Alex Cook 15 to go with 10 rebounds.
The Redbirds, 8-15, 5-9 in the Valley, sliced a 15-point second-half Panther lead down to one on two occasions, but werent able to get over the hump as UNI got big shots from Berry and Cook late in the game and had a 24-11 edge at the free throw line.
The Panthers, 16-8, 10-3 in the Valley, had 24 free throw attempts to just 11 for Illinois State, which committed just nine turnovers and had 13 steals as Jaci McCormack and Donovan had three apiece.
The opening minutes of the game were an exchange of scores, with the eighth tie of the game coming on Katie Wards 13-foot jumper with 9:47 left in the half. UNI responded with a 6-0 run featuring Cooks first two baskets of the game as the Panthers took a 23-17 lead. UNI extended that lead to 37-29 with the help of 10 free throws.
Donovans layup and Megan McCrackens jumper helped ISU slice that lead to 37-33 in the first minute of the second half, but Hagers two free throws, a rattling rebound shot by Tara King and three-pointers by Berry and Tracy Ollendieck gave the Panthers a 10-0 run and 14-point lead with 15:26 left in the game.
It takes 40 minutes to beat a ballclub like UNI, said Pingeton. We didnt come out and play in the first half like we wanted to play. I take responsibility for that. I cant explain why we came out flat. In the second half of the second half, we just played a lot harder. Our defense dictated our offense in the second half and thats what this team needs.
That lead stood at 13 when the Redbirds started their run with a Shelton three-pointer after a Donovan steal at 7:36 left in the game. McCormack hit a jumper, then Donovan hit two driving layups and a free throw before McCrackens layup off a steal sliced the lead to 59-54 with 4:50 left. Holly Hallstroms layup off a pass from Donovan with 4:03 left brought the Birds back within 59-58. Cook hit a fallaway jumper to allow UNI to keep the lead, but Donovan answered with a layup to keep it within one for ISU.
Then Berry was fouled while hitting a three-pointer. Her four-point play with 2:30 left. Berrys free throw made it 66-62 with 1:27 left and ISU got no closer.
UNI coach Tony DiCecco thought the 14-2 Redbird run put his team in a tough spot. Nine of those 14 ISU points came off Northern Iowa turnovers.
Illinois States press gave us problems, said DiCecco. I think we panicked because of the press and let them back into the game. I thought Illinois State played a very good game. For the 35 minutes we had control of the game I thought it was one of our better games. But, they really capitalized on our mistakes Alex and Emily hit a couple of big shots for us; weve had a lot of games that have gone that way and weve managed to win them.
The Redbirds finish their 2004-05 regular-season home schedule with a 2:05 p.m. Sunday meeting with Bradley in Redbird Arena. The 2005 State Farm-Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is March 10-11-12 at Redbird Arena.
