March 5, 2009
Box Score
DES MOINES, Iowa -
Illinois State (24-5, 15-2 MVC) avoided its second losing streak of the season by beating Drake (17-11, 10-6 MVC), 64-57, Thursday night. The Redbirds clinched their third outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and set a school record with their 24th regular season win.
Kristi Cirone scored a game-high 18 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Nicolle Lewis had 13 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Maggie Krick chipped in 11 points and a team-high five assists. Amanda Clifton had four assists off the bench.
ISU claimed its third outright MVC regular season title, the first since 1988-89. The Redbirds had already secured back-to-back regular season crowns for the first time in school history.
"This was a big win for our program to clinch the first outright MVC title in 20 years," said head coach Robin Pingeton. "We gave a great effort in the second half against a talented and physical Drake team. Our bench stepped up big when some of our starters got into foul trouble. Amanda Clifton's line on the scoresheet doesn't tell the full story of how big an impact she had."
Monique Jones logged a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Jordann Plummer added 14 points and four assists for Drake.
A three-pointer by Shala Jackson gave ISU an eight-point lead midway through the first half. Drake answered with a 7-0 run to pull within a point, 18-17. Cirone came up with a steal and a fastbreak layup to snap a stretch of nearly four minutes that the Redbirds didn't make a field goal.
Drake suffered through a span of more than seven minutes without a field goal, but the free throw shooting and defense kept the game close. The Bulldogs made six free throws during that stretch and limited the Redbirds to just eight points. Plummer nailed a three-pointer that sparked another 7-0 run to put Drake ahead for the first time, 30-27, with one minute remaining in the half.
The Redbirds fought back early in the second half and led, 38-36, with 15 minutes left. Drake had another stretch of nearly five minutes without a field goal, but the Redbirds yet again couldn't take full advantage of it, holding that two-point lead. After Drake tied the game, the ISU offense showed some life with an 8-3 run, capped by a three-pointer by Cirone in the right corner, to take a five-point lead, 46-41.
Drake pulled within a point, but four-straight points by Lewis kept the Redbird lead at five. The five-point cushion was ISU's biggest for most of the second half as Drake kept it close with clutch baskets and free throws.
The Redbird lead was at three with less than a minute to go when Krick found Lewis underneath for a wide-open layup. Krick knocked the ball away on the ensuing Drake possession and Cirone made a pair of free throws to extend the ISU lead to seven, 64-57.
Illinois State closes out the regular season at Creighton Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
