Jan. 31, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
After starting the game on a hot streak with two-straight three-pointers, the No. 24 Illinois State women's basketball team fended off a persistent Drake offense to lead the Bulldogs, 36-33, at halftime Thursday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. Sophomore guard Maggie Krick got the Redbird scoring started early, as the Washington, Ill, native drained a three-pointer just seven seconds into the game, the first of her five points in the first half.
The Redbirds were led offensively in the first half by sophomore forward Ashleen Bracey, who reached double-figures in scoring (11 points) for the ninth time this season. In addition to her five points in the half, Krick contributed six rebounds, while sophomore center Nicolle Lewis chipped in with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field. For the Bulldogs, Jill Martin had 10 points on a 5-for-8 shooting effort from the field.
The Redbird offense got off to a quick start to the game, as ISU went on an 8-0 run over the first two minutes, twenty seconds that included Krick's three-pointer and a trey by senior guard Tiffany Hudson. Just before the first media timeout of the half (15:03), Drake started to chip away at the Redbird lead, as the Bulldogs put up four unanswered points to cut ISU's lead in half (8-4). After two made free throws and a steal by Hudson, the Redbirds came firing back and took their first double-digit lead of the game (14-4) just six minutes in after a short jumper by Krick and a layup from Lewis.
ISU continued to pour on both the offensive and defensive pressure, as the Bulldogs were held to under 10 points until the 11:37 mark of the first half, while the Redbirds built up as much as a 12-point lead (14-6). ISU could not capitalize on the early double-digit lead, as Drake pushed the Redbird advantage back down to five points (21-14) just before the second media timeout (7:57) thanks to an 8-3 run that included baskets by four different Bulldogs.
A traditional three-point play by Bracey near the three-minute mark of the first half pushed the ISU lead back into double-digits (34-24), as the Redbird offense regained the momentum that it had established earlier in the period. The momentum was short lived for Illinois State, as the resurgent Drake offense continued to put pressure on the Redbird defense. The Bulldogs went on a 7-2 run over the final two minutes, 48 seconds of the first half to cut the ISU lead to just three points (36-33) at halftime.
GoRedbirds.com will have complete postgame coverage of the Illinois State-Drake women's basketball game, including a postgame recap and final statistics, following the conclusion of tonight's game.
