Box Score
March 10, 2006
Springfield, Mo. -
Senior Holly Hallstrom had 16 points and 12 rebounds in her final game for the Redbirds, but the UNI Panthers used a 13-0 run in the second half and a huge free throw advantage to eliminate Illinois State with a 70-62 win in the quarterfinals of the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday at Hammons Student Center.
The Panthers, 19-10, won the game at the free throw line, hitting 27 of 39 to Illinois State's 6 of 10 for the game. The Redbirds finish the season 12-16 despite having nine more field goals and five more rebounds than UNI. Lori Trumblee matched her season high with 15 points and Amber Shelton added 13 for the Redbirds, who fall to 12-16 to finish the season.
UNI, the No. 3 seed led 61-49 with four minutes left when the `Bird made their final run. Hallstrom scored inside, then Kristi Cirone hit a free throw and Hallstrom scored on the offensive rebound. Another Hallstrom bucket and ISU was within 61-56, but UNI went back to the free throw line and knocked in six more shots to stretch that lead back to nine heading into the final two minutes.
Cassie Hager had 20 points and six blocked shots to go with Tara King's 19 points and 15 by Jessie Biggs--11 of those from the foul line. The free throw difference was the difference, according to Redbird head coach Robin Pingeton.
"UNI deserves the credit; they played with great poise," said Pingeton. "We out-rebounded them by five and had more shots, but they scored 21 more points from the free throw line and that was the ballgame. We have to knock down more shots and learn how to get to the free throw line more. When you look at 39 free throws to 10, that's a big difference. They knew how to attack the basket."
The Redbirds controlled the boards early while jumping to a 19-12 lead in the first nine minutes. Trumblee and Shelton both hit three-pointers and Tiffany Hudson hit a pair of driving lay-ups as the `Birds took that seven-point lead, by hitting 8 of their first 18 shots and committing only one turnover. But the `Birds had turnovers on five straight possessions as UNI crept to within 19-17 with 9:23 left in the half. The teams traded scores until ISU took a 31-27 lead on Kristi Cirone's driving bucket with 4:20 left in the half.
Cirone, the Valley Freshman of the Year, played just 29 minutes and was 1 for 9 from the field, scoring just five points to go with four assists and two steals. She has been under the weather in recent days.
"We don't make excuses, but Kristi hasn't been feeling well lately," said Pingeton. "As Kristi goes, we go. She has been under the weather the last couple of days, and I think her sickness got to her a little bit tonight. But she's a tough kid and has come a long way as a player."
Then the Panthers began a parade to the free throw line, hitting seven of nine to take a 36-35 lead at halftime. UNI had 10 of 15 free throws to ISU's 3 of 5 in the first half, with seven in the final three minutes before intermission.
With a pair of Shelton free throws and back-to-back buckets by Trumblee, ISU took a 41-37 lead in the first 2:30 of the second half. But UNI scored the next 11 points, keeping the `Birds off the scoreboard from 17:50 to 10:42 left, including four more free throws, to take a 50-41 lead.
Hallstrom broke the drought with a layup on a blind pass from Shelton, and Shelton followed a Hager free throw by rebounding her own miss to cut the lead to 51-45 with 9:59 left. But King was fouled while hitting a three-pointer and hit the free throw to make it 55-45 UNI. ISU just had one more run.
The Panthers meet #7 seed Missouri State, the tournament host, in Saturday's second semi-final at 3:37 p.m. The Bears roared back from a halftime deficit to beat No. 2 seed Drake 78-62 in the first game of Friday's semi-final.
No. 1 seed Indiana State advanced to the semi-finals with a 73-51 win over No. 9 Creighton in the first game of the afternoon session. Evansville meets Indiana State in the first semi-final as the Aces out-lasted Wichita State 79-76 in overtime.
