Jan. 4, 2007
Box Score
NORMAL, Ill. - Sophomore point guard Kristi Cirone clinched her best road performance of the season, pouring in a game-high 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting to lead Illinois State to a convincing 84-72 win over host Southern Illinois at SIU Arena Thursday night. With the win, the Redbird remain undefeated in Missouri Valley Conference play and atop the league standings.
Cirone led a group of four ISU players in double figures, as Megan McCracken (18) Maggie Krick (11) and Lashawn Johnson (11) all contributed in the offensive flurry. The Salukis (6-8, 2-1 MVC) were led by Carlai Moore's 13 points.
Illinois State (10-4, 3-0 MVC) built as large as a six-point lead in the first half before Southern Illinois went on an 11-5 run in the final three minutes of the stanza to take a three-point advantage at halftime. The Redbirds outscored the Salukis 23-10 in the first seven minutes of the second half to open up a double-digit lead. After leading by as many as 16 points, the `Birds held off a late SIU rally to post the victory.
ISU head coach Robin Pingeton was especially pleased with her team's advantage on the boards, and improved free throw shooting.
"I'm really proud of our kids effort tonight," said Pingeton. "It is not easy to go on the road and win in this conference. Southern Illinois plays some of the best defense in our league, but the difference tonight was that we rebounded well and made our free throws.
"If you can do those things on the road, you've got a great chance to win. We'll enjoy this one, but we also recognize that we have a big task ahead of us Saturday at Evansville."
Both teams traded baskets for the initial 10 minutes of the first half, with a combined six ties and lead changes setting the tone. At the second media timeout, the score was tied 12-12. McCracken, making her first start since the opener against Northern Illinois (Nov. 11), had two three-pointers in the stretch to pace the ISU offensive attack, while SIU's Erica Smith connected on her first three field goals for an early six points.
The Salukis were forced into their first timeout three minutes later (8:53) after the Redbirds completed a 9-6 run to open up a 21-17 advantage, their largest lead of the half. Cirone had a quick seven points in the spurt. Illinois State led by as many as six points in the ensuing five minutes before SIU strung together a 6-2 surge to pull within one, 28-27, with 4:45 remaining in the stanza.
Southern Illinois finished the half on an 8-5 spurt, and after a trey by Burris with five seconds left, took a three-point, 38-35 lead into the locker room at halftime. Cirone led ISU with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Sweere paced a balanced SIU offensive attack with seven points.
Illinois State re-claimed the lead just one minute into the second half after a three-pointer by Cirone, and four minutes later (14:52), stretched the advantage to eight points (53-45) after putting the finishing touches on an 8-0 spurt. McCracken and Krick each had transition three-pointers in the run. The lead ballooned to 15, 63-48, with 12:00 left, capping off a 10-5 Redbird run. Johnson, Krick and McCracken each collected field goals in the stretch, and Cirone added two free throws.
The Salukis could draw no closer than 10 points for the remainder of the game. ISU hit seven free throws in the final 4:10 to put the game out of reach.
The Redbirds will wrap up their weekend road slate Saturday when they face off against host Evansville. Tip-off from Roberts Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
