Dec. 3, 2008
Box Score
MACOMB, Ill. -
Illinois State (3-3) jumped ahead of Western Illinois early and didn't look back, beating the Westerwinds, 80-49, Wednesday night. Every player scored in a dominating performance for the Redbirds, who never trailed and led by 30 points the entire second half.
Maggie Krick led all scorers with 20 points, her third-straight double-digit effort and second-consecutive 20-point outing. Kristi Cirone added 17 points to move past Char Govan for third place on the ISU career scoring list. Cirone, who started the season in sixth place, has 1,580 career points. Both Cirone added five assists and four steals. Ashleen Bracey had a season-high eight rebounds and Katie Broadway had a career-best seven points.
The 31-point win was ISU's biggest margin of victory since beating Bradley by 33 points in both meetings last season. ISU shot 49.1 percent from the field and shot a season-best 85 percent from the field (17-20). It wasn't just a solid offensive night for the Redbirds, who held Western Illinois to just three field goals over a 16-minute stretch that spanned both halves and forced 20 turnovers.
"We wanted to come out aggressive defensively and I thought we did some good things with our full court press. We wanted to wear Western Illinois down and force them to play at a pace they were uncomfortable playing at," said head coach Robin Pingeton. "We played hard, played great defense and I feel like we kept up our intensity for a full 40 minutes. Our rotations off the bench were really solid and it was great to have all of our players get quality minutes."
After the first four ISU baskets came inside the paint, the Redbirds stepped outside for three-consecutive three-pointers to pull double up the Westerwinds, 18-9. Krick nailed two deep triples from the left side, both well behind the men's three-point arc.
Western Illinois got into foul trouble early on, putting the Redbirds in the bonus for the majority of the half. ISU took advantage of it, making 12 free throws to close out the half with a 28-6 run, and led 46-22 at halftime. Eight different players scored for the Redbirds during the run. ISU held Western Illinois to just four field goals in the final 10 minutes of the half and the lowest scoring output in a half this season.
The `Birds picked up right where they left off in the second half, opening the period with a 12-2 run to go up by 30, 58-24. Cirone scored eight points and ISU forced four turnovers. Western Illinois continued to struggle offensively, not making a field goal until the 11:23 mark of the second half.
Cirone nailed a three from the left side at 8:26 to move past Govan. Amanda Clifton got into the scoring action with a three-pointer a minute later, making her the last Redbird to score, and a pair of free throws by Emily Hanley gave ISU its biggest lead of the season, 75-37.
Illinois State returns home Saturday to face Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m.
