Jan. 7, 2006
Box Score
Terre Haute, Ind. -
Holly Hallstrom made 13 of 15 field goals while scoring a career-high 30 points to go with 14 rebounds, but it wasn't enough for Illinois State to prevent a 92-76 Indiana State victory in a rematch of the 2005 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship game, won last year by the Redbirds in Redbird Arena.
The Redbirds, 5-7, 0-3, staged a valiant comeback to cut a 20-point deficit to seven late in the second half, but Illinois State went cold in the final four minutes as the league-leading Sycamores pulled away. Indiana State had advantages from three-point range, at the free throw line and in turnovers. Melanie Boeglin had 20 points, eight assists and six steals to lead Indiana State.
Tiffany Hudson matched her career high with 13 points, while Megan McCracken added 13 and Amber Shelton had 13 points to go with a career-matching eight assists. The Sycamores, 11-3, 3-0, avenged a 72-70 loss in the 2005 Valley title game which launched the Redbirds into the NCAA Tournament and sent Indiana State to the WNIT.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton was happy with the way her team got the ball in to Hallstrom in good position to score.
"We stress that we want to be an inside-out offensive ballclub," said Pingeton. "Holly came in this week to watch game tapes and see how she could help the team by getting more opportunities to post up. It works both ways--our perimeter players did a better job of getting the ball to Holly."
In Saturday's game at Hulman Center, a crowd of 3,461 saw a tight game from the start until the home team broke a 20-20 tie with a 9-2 run to take a 29-22 lead with 7:51 left in the half. That lead was 32-24 before the `Birds started a comeback with Hallstrom scoring six straight points to cut the lead to 34-30.
Stephanie Lisch scored at 4:31 to put the Sycamores up 36-31. Hudson's three-pointer and Hallstrom's layup on back-to-back possessions got the `Birds a 36-36 tie with 3:09 left in the half. But Shelton left after that play with a knee injury after a collision under the Redbird basket. With Cirone on the bench with three fouls for the last five minutes of the half, the `Birds were running out of options and Indiana State capitalized, out-scoring the Redbirds 12-0 the rest of the half, including seven of eight free throws to take a 48-36 lead. Four of those free throws came on back-to-back personal and technical fouls on Lashawn Johnson with 42 seconds left in the half, giving her three fouls.
"Our kids are starting to get a tougher mentality," said Pingeton. "It's good to see them with a fighter's mentality. We gave ourselves opportunities, but the last four minutes of the first half hurt us. First, Kristi gets her third foul, then Amber gets a knee-to-knee contact injury and then the technical foul. We have to learn to keep our composure."
The Redbirds shot 57 percent from the field in the first half, but 14 turnovers and deficits in rebounding (21-16) and free throws made (11-5) were enough to make the difference for Indiana State in the first 20 minutes.
Shelton returned in the second half and McCracken cut the lead to 10, but the Sycamores started pulling away, taking a 20-point lead at the 13:30 mark. That lead was 69-49 with 12:53 left for Indiana State.
But the `Birds crawled back, starting with a bucket-and-one by McCracken and a jumper by Shelton. Indiana State led 74-56 when McCracken's three-pointer, another Hallstrom shot from inside and a second McCracken three cut it to 74-64 with 6:39 left. The teams traded points until a Cirone bucket and a Hallstrom free throw sliced the lead to 78-71. The `Birds rebounded Hallstrom's miss, but couldn't convert and, after a Redbird stop, a Boeglin steal and layup was followed by a three-point play by the Sycamore guard helped the home team pull away, finishing the game with a 14-5 spurt.
"Indiana State showed why they are 11-2 and picked to win the league," said Pingeton. "They have a lot of weapons and veteran players."
The Redbirds continue their three-game road swing through the Valley with a Thursday game at Northern Iowa before finishing the swing at with a noon start next Sunday at Bradley.
