Feb. 10, 2006
Box Score
Normal, Ill. -
Amber Shelton scored 17 points for Illinois State, but it wasn't enough to stop Cassie Hager and Northern Iowa from using a spurt in each half to earn a 61-53 win in a Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game Friday at Redbird Arena.
The Panthers, 15-6 overall, 9-3 in the Missouri Valley, led by Hager's 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, had a 9-0 run in the first half and an 11-0 run in the second half. Hager hit four straight field goals to put the Panthers safely in front late in the game.
Forty seconds into the game junior Lori Trumblee sunk a three point shot to start Redbird scoring, but ISU hit just two of their remaining 17 three-point tries, with Shelton hitting the other two treys. ISU fell to 8-12, 3-8 in the league.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton credited UNI for staying focused, but didn't feel her team played to its potential.
"UNI showed a lot of poise. They did a great job executing," said Pingeton. "I feel like we didn't come out and play like we can. It's frustrating because I feel like we were moving in the right direction and played harder against our scout team in practice than we did tonight. We had 63 field goal attempts to their 46, but we just didn't knock them down. I'm disappointed and I don't know that I have an answer for it."
UNI, which leads the nation in free throw percentage, went 8-for-8 in the first half on free throws and only 4-for-9 in the second half. But the Panthers made up for the free throw shooting with 58 percent from the field in the second half. The Redbirds had 63 field goal attempts to just 46 for UNI, but the Panthers won by hitting two more field goals and four more free throws. ISU had just six turnovers in the game.
A Shelton layup with 14:27 left in the half, put the `Birds ahead 11-10, but UNI went on a 9-0 scoring run, which left the score 19-11 Panthers before Kristi Cirone, who had 12 points for ISU, hit a layup with 9:05 left in the half. The ISU defense allowed the Panthers four points in the next eight minutes and Shelton's three point shot took the `Birds close with a score of 23-22 with 1:38 left in the first half, but UNI took a 27-23 halftime lead.
Beginning the second half, the `Birds came out strong with a full-court press. Shelton's second three-point basket of the game put the `Birds behind by two points with a score of 32-30. Cirone's jumper gave the `Birds a 35-34 lead with 14:11 left.
ISU led 37-36 on two Cirone free throws with 13:18 left, but Hager got UNI the lead with a layup 21 seconds later. Cirone's two free throws, which gave her the Illinois State freshman record with 86 free throws made in a season, gave ISU its last lead, 37-36. A Hager jumper and a Jessie Biggs three-pointer put UNI up 41-37 with 12:05 left. Trumblee's short jumper in the lane cut that lead to 41-39, but UNI scored the next nine points over the next five minutes to take a 50-39 lead at the eight-minute mark.
UNI led by 12 into the final 90 seconds, but an ISU charge fell too late and too short.
Shelton saluted UNI, but thought Illinois State could have played harder.
"Give credit to UNI," said Shelton. "A 6-foot-7 girl like Cassie is tough to stop once she gets set inside, but we had some breakdowns. We need to play harder for 40 minutes, not just a few, or 20 or 25 ... the whole game."
The Redbirds complete a three-game Valley home stand with a 2:05 p.m. Sunday game against Bradley in Redbird Arena.
