Feb. 28, 2007
Illinois State-Drake Game Notes in PDF Format
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NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State women's basketball team will look to improve to 7-1 in 2006-07 Missouri Valley Conference road games when the Redbirds visit league foe Drake Thursday night. Tip-off from the Knapp Center is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The Redbirds (18-9, 11-5 MVC) are coming off Sunday's 74-73, overtime loss to Northern Iowa. Sophomore center Nicolle Lewis turned in another dominating performance in the post, scoring a career-high 26 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds and a career-best five blocks. Kristi Cirone finished with 19 points and nine assists, and did not commit a single turnover. UNI's Tara King poured in 31 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 5.5 seconds remaining in overtime to seal the win.
After a 0-7 start in the Valley, Drake (10-16 (5-11 MVC) is 5-4 in conference play since, and sits in eighth place in the league standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Junior Brandy Dahir (17.2 ppg) is the league's leading scorer. She also shoots at a .522 clip from the field, the seventh-best tally in the MVC. Junior Lindsay Whorton enters this weekend needing just 23 points to become the 19th 1,000 point scorer in Bulldog history. Drake is 7-6 at the Knapp Center this season, including a 3-4 mark in Valley games.
In the last meeting between Redbirds and Bulldogs (Dec. 31, 2006), Cirone and Maggie Krick combined for 39 points and 12 rebounds to lead Illinois State to a convincing 64-50 win at Redbird Arena. The victory clinched head coach Robin Pingeton's 50th win at the helm of Illinois State.
The Redbirds built as large as an 11-point lead in the first half before Drake made a late run to pull within five (29-24) at intermission. In the second half, the Bulldogs stayed within striking distance in the early stages before Megan McCracken's layup with 6:22 remaining gave the Redbirds a double-digit advantage that they would not relinquish. ISU finished the game on a 9-4 run.
Drake leads the all-time series against Illinois State, 30-22, and has claimed eight of the last 11 overall meetings. The Redbirds have not recorded a season sweep of Drake since the 1993-94 campaign, and have dropped 14 consecutive decisions at the Knapp Center.
