March 1, 2006
Final Stats
Evansville, Ind. -
Kristi Cirone scored 17 of her career-high tying 27 points in the first half to lead Illinois State to a 79-66 win over Evansville in a Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game at Roberts Stadium.
The Redbirds, 12-14, 7-10 in the Valley, won their third in a row and put themselves into a fifth-place tie with Wichita State and Missouri State, who play each other Saturday. With a win Saturday at Southern Illinois, the `Birds would receive either a No. 5 or a No. 6 seed, avoiding the first-round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Aces, 15-11, 11-6 in the Valley, got 17 points from Megan Liffick, but it wasn't enough to overcome ISU's season-high 54 percent field goal shooting and 22-of-26 free throws, 10-of-10 by Cirone. Amber Shelton had 13 points, Holly Hallstrom added 11 and Megan McCracken had 10 off the bench for the Redbirds.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton was thrilled with Cirone's work, which included six rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.
"We have put a ton of pressure on Kristi, but there was no doubt she can handle it," said Pingeton. "We knew she was a franchise player when we recruited her and she is showing that."
By 17:32, Redbird leading rebounder Hallstrom was on the bench with three fouls, but Illinois State's defense got the `Birds out to a 15-4 lead with Tiffany Hudson scoring four and assisting on seven more during an 11-0 ISU run. Courtney Felke's seven points brought UE back within six, but four Cirone free throws, a Hudson layup, four straight points by Shelton and a Cirone three , but ave ISU a 30-17 lead with 7:29 left in the half.
A Lori Trumblee bucket on the fourth of Hudson's five assists of the half put ISU ahead 35-23, but Robyn Jennings' three and Felke's jumper sliced that lead to 35-30 with 2:18 left in the half. But Cirone hit an off-balance jumper and followed with her third three-pointer of the half to finish the scoring before intermission and put ISU ahead 40-30.
Cirone thought the strong first half was a plus, which led to ISU's favorable spot in the standings.
"We had to lock in on what we could do," said Cirone. "Our backs were against the wall, but we came out fighting as a team."
Three early buckets by Hallstrom helped ISU build the lead back to 48-34 in the first 3:30 of the second half. UE picked away to get within 53-46 with 9:57 left, but Cirone's drive through traffic got ISU a bucket. Hallstrom followed by splitting two free throws, but ISU got the rebound on the second and eventually scored on a McCracken bank shot and ISU led 58-46. After two UE free throws, Cirone and Shelton scored on back-to-back possessions and ISU led by 14 again.
The `Birds got their largest lead of 16 with 4:13 left as McCracken hit a three with the shot clock almost dead with an assist from Cirone. The Redbirds are on the road for their regular-season finale, 2:05 p.m. Saturday at Southern Illinois.
