Jan. 22, 2006
Final Stats
Normal, Ill -
Amber Shelton scored 17 points, Megan McCracken added 14 and the Redbird defense held Wichita State to just 31 percent field goal shooting in a 66-52 Illinois State win Sunday in a Missouri Valley Conference basketball game at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State 7-9, 2-5 in the Valley, shot 52 percent in the second half and forced a barrage of turnovers by Wichita State, 9-6, 3-4. ISU shot 31 percent and WSU just 26 percent in the first half as the Redbirds took a 27-26 lead to the intermission.
Wichita State's Kiki Stephens scored the first basket for the Shockers in the second half to put Wichita State ahead 28-27, but Shelton's lay up started a 13-0 Redbird run in which Wichita State had nine straight turnovers as the `Birds in took a 40-27 lead with the help of McCracken's three point field goal. ISU led 42-30 when
A Stephens basket and Lexee McDonnell's three-pointer got the Shockers rolling on their own spurt. Wichita State went on a 14 to 3 run to pull within 45-44 with another one of McDonnell's thee point shots with 8:29 left in the game.
But the `Birds had the answer. ISU led 48-47 when McCracken hit a back-door layup on a pass from Kristi Cirone with 6;42 left. Lori Trumblee, who had her first ISU double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, scored next on an assist from Shelton. After McDonnell hit another three to make it 52-50, Trumblee hit a layup, Shelton drained a jumper and McCracken scored in the paint to spark a 10-0 Redbird run. ISU led 62-50 on a jump shot by Cirone with 3:02 left, and ISU was on its way to its second straight Valley win.
In a low-scoring game, the Redbirds' rotation and strength in rebounds were the big factors in Illinois State's shut down of Wichita State's offense and head coach Robin Pingeton was happy with her team's defense and board work. Hallstrom led all rebounders with 12 to go with Trumblee's 11.
"I like our rotation with our bigger kids...Lori and Holly did a great job going against the great post players of Wichita State," said Pingeton. "They both bring different things to the table for us, Lori is a great shooter, and Holly's athleticism helped our rebounding in the last couple of games and helps us all together...its good to be back with a bigger lineup."
The `Birds hit 52 percent to finish the game at 39 percent. The `Birds also forced 25 WSU turnovers to just 16 for ISU. The rebounding was even, although WSU's Antionette Wells, the league's leader, had 12 board. Stephens led the Shockers with 13 points.
Shelton was comfortable with ISU's better shooting in the second half.
"Our shots were a lot better in the second half," said Shelton. "In the first half, our shots weren't falling in and luckily we kept up our defense which helped us stay ahead of Wichita State."
The Redbirds now prepare for their next game on Thursday at Creighton.
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