Feb. 28, 2006
Normal, Ill. -
To get past playing in the first round of the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, Illinois State's women's basketball team needs wins in its the last four games of the regular season. In that situation, many coaches with young teams would try to get their squads just to focus on what's in front of them ... one game at a time. Faced with precisely that challenge, Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton put it all out there in front of her players last week. That's why her team knows the exact value of winning Wednesday's 7:05 p.m. game at Evansville.
"We've been very blunt about what needs to happen," said Pingeton, whose team already has the first two of those four needed victories in the bank after beating Drake 64-61 and Creighton 74-61 last weekend. "Now, we're on the road against two teams that dominated us at the start of the season."
In the formula schedule that has served Valley women's basketball since regular-season conference play began in 1983, the way teams start is the way they finish. Illinois State began the Valley season with back-to-back home losses to Southern Illinois (87-65) and Evansville (78-62). That was just a week after the `Birds lost two starters--guard Ashley Sandstead and center Nicolle Lewis--to season-ending knee injuries, and Pingeton thinks her team is much better now.
"I think we've been a different team over the past few weeks," said Pingeton, whose `Birds are 11-14 overall, 6-10 in the Valley. "We are learning to maximize our effort and lock in the intensity you have to have every night to win in this league. I'm proud of how we have responded; we're showing some maturity and toughness on the court. We're going to need it to finish this (mission)."
Players like freshman Kristi Cirone, who earned her fourth State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week award this week, plus senior Holly Hallstrom, who is averaging a `double-double' with 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, and sophomore Amber Shelton, a big-play type who averages 12.2 points per game and leads the `Birds in steals. The two recent home wins have vaulted ISU from ninth place to a chance to break into the first division.
Pingeton's team is currently seventh in the Valley, and, in a 10-team tournament, the bottom four have to play an extra round. But the `Birds are just one-half game behind the fifth-place tie involving Missouri State and Wichita State. Both 7-10, those teams face each other Saturday night. If the `Birds win twice before then, the loser of that game will drop to the No. 7 seed. Depending on tiebreakers, the `Birds would be either No. 5 or No. 6 with an 8-10 mark.
But that's only if the Redbirds win, and Evansville, 15-10 overall, 11-5 in the Valley, will make that tough--not just because the Aces are 10-2 at home, including the last six straight, but also because four UE seniors will be playing their final game: Megan Liffick, Sarah Hyslop, Olivia Grant and Kanika Rogers. Led by Liffick's team-leading 15.9 points per game, that foursome accounts for nearly 50 percent of the Evansville scoring and rebounding this season.
The Aces wear teams down as head coach Tricia Cullop uses as many as 12 or 13 players in a game. Pingeton admires the way the Aces play.
"Tricia has worked hard and built a program with players who have toughness and execute very well," said Pingeton. "They are solid at all positions and they play hard. They really took it to us two months ago, but I think we're a much better team now than we were two months ago. But we know what we need to do and it will be a challenge."
The challenges continue for the Redbirds, who finish the regular season Saturday with a 2:05 p.m. game against Southern Illinois. The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament starts Thursday for the bottom four teams, Friday for the top six in the final standings.
