ISU Closes Out First Half of Valley Slate This Weekend

Jan. 29, 2009

 

 

ISU-BRADLEY SOLD OUT
The Illinois State-Bradley women's basketball game Friday night at Illinois Central's Ramsey gymnasium has been sold out.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kristi Cirone - G - ILLINOIS STATE
A three-time MVC Player of the Week, Cirone has continued her trend of dominating Valley play. Cirone leads the conference in scoring (19.4 ppg) and assists (6.4 apg) in Valley games. The only player two win multiple player of the week awards, Cirone has scored at least 15 points in all seven Valley games this year.

MICHELLE LUND - G - BRADLEY
A three-time MVC Newcomer of the Week, Lund has broken into the Valley was one of the best shooters in the conference with 51 three-pointers on the season. She is second in the league in three-pointers made and fifth in three-point field goal percentage. Lund is averaging 10.3 points per game, the second-best total on the Braves.

KIM WYPISZYNSKI - F - NORTHERN IOWA
Wypiszynski has made quite an impact in her first season the Valley after transferring to UNI from UW-Milwaukee last year. She is second on the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) and leads the Panthers in rebounding (5.8 rpg). She also has a team-best 52.4 field goal percentage.

FASTBREAK POINTS
ISU beat Bradley by 33 points in both meetings last year ... ISU and Bradley are the two best rebounding teams in the Valley and both rank in the top-50 in the nation in rebounding margin ... After starting the year 13-2, including four-straight valley wins, Bradley has lost its last three games ... Illinois State is 1-10 in its last 11 games at the McLeod Center ... UNI has lost its last two Valley games after winning four-straight, including handing Bradley its first MVC loss.

REDBIRDS-BRAVES SERIES
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Bradley, 35-17. In the women's basketball version of the I-74 Rivalry, ISU has fine winning streaks of four games or more and has swept the season series nine times. Bradley has never won more than two-consecutive games against the Redbirds, a feat the Braves have achieved only five times. Robin Pingeton is 7-3 all-time against Bradley.

LAST YEAR VS. BRADLEY
Illinois State simply dominated Bradley last season, winning both games by 33 points, shooting 54.9 percent from the field (67-122), 50.0 percent from three-point range (19-38) and 80.0 percent from the free throw line (20-25). Bradley's newfound rebounding ability should come in handy this year after ISU outrebounded the Braves by an average of 13.5 a year ago. Four different Redbirds averaged double-figures in scoring and shot better than 50 percent from the field while playing less then 26 minutes per game: Maggie Krick (16.5, 54.2%), Kristi Cirone (13.0, 76.9%), Nicolle Lewis (11.0, 64.3%), Ashleen Bracey (10.0, 69.2 %). Bracey, Krick and Lewis all averaged better than five rebounds per game as well. Krick and Cirone made a combined 13 three-pointers and shot 61.9 percent from beyond the arc (13-21).

REDBIRDS-PANTHERS SERIES
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Northern Iowa, 33-21. The two teams met twice in the 1970's before the creation of the gateway Conference in 1984 paired them up at least twice every season. After a 70-55 loss in the first-ever meeting, the Redbirds won 22-straight over the Panthers. The 21-consecutive wins as conference members is the third-longest winning streak for one school against another in MVC history. UNI broke the streak with a four-point overtime win in the second meeting of 1994 and then did some work to even the series back up, winning 20 of the last 29 meetings. Since 2000, UNI is 16-4 against ISU. ISU has won in Cedar Falls just once (2007) in its last 11 trips to Cedar Falls. Head coach Robin Pingeton is 8-4 all-time against UNI, including a 1-1 mark in the State Farm MVC Tournament.

LAST YEAR VS. NORTHERN IOWA
ISU and UNI split the season series last year, with each team winning on its home court. The Redbirds beat UNI by 21 at home before losing to the Panthers by two points the last time they were in Cedar Falls. Kristi Cirone averaged 22.0 points and 4.5 assists per game against UNI last season. She lit the Panthers up for 25 points at home on 9-of-12 shooting, including four three-pointers. Nicolle Lewis turned in 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game against UNI. Ashleen Bracey had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds in her last game at the McLeod Center.

A KEEN OFFENSIVE PROWESS
After a slow start to the year, the Illinois State offense kicked into high gear with 94 points in the third game of the season and has been going strong ever since. ISU has the 14th-best scoring offense (74.9 ppg) and field goal percentage (.455) in the nation, leading the Valley in both categories. The Redbirds have scored less than 60 points just once this year and have scored over 70 in 12 games, winning each one. Of ISU's 15 wins this season, 13 have been by double-digit margins.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
Once again, Illinois State is one of the nation's best ball-handling teams. ISU ranks ninth in Division I in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.09), 17th in assists per game (16.4) and 21st in turnovers per game (15.0). The Redbirds have had only seven games with more turnovers than assists and has handed out at least 15 assists in 14 games. Senior Kristi Cirone, who led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio last year, ranks ninth in the category this season (2.33).

FANTASTIC FIVE
The Redbirds have used the starting lineup of senior Kristi Cirone, juniors Ashleen Bracey, Maggie Krick and Nicolle Lewis and sophomore Shala Jackson for most of the season and the group has led the Redbirds all year. They make up the top-five ISU scorers and rebounders and one of the players has led the team in scoring every game this season. In games that with this starting lineup, ISU is 13-1, averaging 77.1 points per game and allowing just 58.0 points per game. The quintet produces 76.3 percent of the Redbird offense as a starting unit and all five players have amassed more than 100 points on the year.

CIRONE APPROACHES ISU SCORING TITLE
Let the countdown begin. Senior Kristi Cirone moved into second place in career scoring at ISU with her six first-half points against Eastern Illinois and now is poised to make a run at Cathy Boswell at the top of the list. Cirone currently has 1,838 points, putting her 167 behind Boswell's 2,005. With at least 12 games left on the schedule, Cirone would have to average 13.9 points per game to become ISU's new scoring queen.

LEWIS ON THE BLOCK
Redshirt junior Nicolle Lewis has quietly established herself as one of the best low post defenders in the Valley and moved her way into second place on the ISU all-time blocks list last year. Lewis has blocked 152 shots in her career, putting her right behind Leslie Ferrell, who holds the ISU record with 177. Lewis has made great strides towards the title this year, averaging 2.2 blocks per game and recording 12 games with at least two rejections, including a season-high five blocks in two games.

CIRONE OF THE WEEK
That is what the MVC Player of the Week award may be renamed after senior Kristi Cirone's career is over. Cirone has won three Valley Player of the Week awards this year, the only player to be honored multiple times this season giving her nine in her career and moving her into a tie with former Indiana State player Melanie Boeglin for the third-most all-time. Missouri State's Jackie Stiles collected 18 awards in her career, followed by Drake's Wanda Ford (10). Cirone has also been named the Prairie Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week three times this season, giving her nine honors in her career.