Nov. 28, 2008
Box Score
CHICAGO -
Illinois State (2-3) lost to ARV/ARV DePaul, (5-1), 80-68, Friday night at McGrath Arena, snapping the Redbirds two-game winning streak. Maggie Krick and Kristi Cirone both turned in 20-point efforts to lead an ISU offense that struggled throughout the night.
Krick scored a team-best 24 points and had a season-best seven rebounds. Cirone contributed 20 points, a career-high 8 rebounds and 9 assists. She moved past Jenny Schmidt for fourth place on the ISU all-time scoring list, ending the game with 1,573 career points. She also became just the fifth player in program history to collected 500 assists in her career.
"I was disappoinited with the way we came out of the gates in the first half," said head coach Robin Pingeton. "We didn't have the poise and the toughness that we showed in the second half and were rushing our shots. DePaul has a lot of size and strength inside, which makes it difficult to get second chance opportunities on offense. We did a good job of fighting back in the second half, but against a team as good as DePaul, you can't put yourself in a hole like we did after the first half."
Poor shooting and turnovers plagued the Redbirds in the first half and provided the room for DePaul to build a . ISU shot just 36.7 percent from the field (11-30), its lowest percentage in a half this season, and committed 13 turnovers. The Redbirds held DePaul to only 10 points over the final nine minutes of the half, but their inability to score kept the Blue Demons well in the lead.
DePaul took a 9-1 lead early in the game and Krick connected on a three-pointer for ISU's first field goal three minutes into the action to cut the deficit to five. DePaul used a full court press to keep the Redbirds from scoring on consecutive possession, forcing the Redbirds into tough shots and collecting the rebound or causing turnovers with traps.
The Redbirds put together consecutive scores for the first time when Shala Jackson made a fastbreak layup off a steal after a score by Cirone. After that, DePaul went on 13-3 run to take a double-digit lead for the first time, 32-17. The Redbirds managed to chip away the rest of the half, slowing down the DePaul fastbreak and getting to the free throw line, but was unable to ever cut the lead down to single digits.
Krick opened the second half on fire, scoring eight-straight points in two minutes to pull the Redbirds within four, 42-38. She nailed three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to bring the Redbirds, and their fans, back into the game.
The Redbird offense started to slow down again, with just one field goal in a five-minute span, but strong defense kept them within nine, 51-42. Cirone scored seven-straight points in two minutes for ISU, but DePaul maintained its lead, 55-49, with nine minutes remaining.
DePaul used an 8-2 run to stretch its lead back to double-digits, 71-58. A quick 7-1 spurt pulled the `Birds back within seven, but they would come no closer.
Illinois State visits Western Illinois Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 7:05 p.m.
