Nov. 14, 2008
Box Score
NEW ORELANS -
The Illinois State women's basketball team couldn't overcome an early deficit and lost to Tulane, 75-62, in the first round of the Preseason WNIT Friday night. Maggie Krick and Shala Jackson led a second-half comeback for the Redbirds, but it wasn't enough for an ISU win. ISU is 0-1 to start the season for the first time since 2006-07.
Krick led the Redbirds with 18 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Krick scored 13 points in the second half after being injured on a screen on the last play of the first half. Kristi Cirone scored 13 points to move past Pat McKinzie for fifth place on the ISU all-time scoring list with 1,495 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists. Jackson added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, which were both team-bests.
"This is not the way we wanted to start the season, but this is an early game and hopefully it will be a wake up call for us," said head coach Robin Pingeton. "Early in the first half, we were taking our first shot and not really working the ball around the offense like we needed to. Tulane played very well. They have a lot of quick, athletic kids and that is something you don't always see on game tape. They hit some tough shots and did a great job getting to the offensive rebounds."
ISU shot 38.2 percent from the field (26-68) and was just 3-for-7 from the free throw line. Tulane held a 48-39 advantage in rebounds and collected 15 of them on the offensive glass, turning them into 14 second-chance points.
Both sides showed signs of this being this being the first game of the season, combining to miss the first 12 shots of the contest. ISU built a 7-2 lead seven minutes in, but Tulane went on an 11-3 run to take its first lead, 13-10. The Green Wave started to make some mid-range jumpers and free throws and the lead swelled to eight points, 26-18, with five minutes remaining.
A three-pointer by Cirone pulled the Redbirds within four with just under a minute left in the half. Tulane scored twice in the final 30 seconds of the half and led, 36-28, at halftime. ISU was just 12-for-32 from the field in the first half, including 2-for-10 from three-point range.
Jackson had two quick buckets to start the Redbird scoring in the second half. With Tulane up by nine, Krick scored 10-straight points, including three-pointers on consecutive possessions, to pull the Redbirds within three, 43-40.
Tulane built its lead back up to seven points, but the Redbirds came back once again. Jackson hit a short jumper and Amanda Clifton nailed a three from the right side to pull ISU within two, 53-51. Cirone made her first three-pointer of the season at the six-minute mark, which moved her past McKinzie and cut the Green Wave down to one, 55-54.
Cirone's three-pointer was the last ISU basket for more than four minutes as the ISU comeback stalled. Ashley Langford scored five-straight points, including a three-point play as she was fouled on a layup, to put Tulane ahead, 62-54, with 2:47 left. Megan Valicevic made a desperation three-pointer as the shot clock expired to put Tulane ahead by double-digits for the first time, 66-54. The Green Wave closed out the game with five free throws in the final 28 seconds.
Illinois State will play two games next weekend at in the consolation round of the WNIT. The site and opponents will be determined after the first round is completed Saturday.
