Jan. 14, 2012
Final Stats
Postgame Interview with Stephanie Glance
Play-by-Play Highlights
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -
Jamie Russell's 15 points in the second half with nine of them coming late in the game, weren't enough as the Illinois State women's basketball team fell to Missouri Valley Conference rival Northern Iowa, 79-73, Saturday at the McLeod Center. Russell just missed a double-double with 24 points and nine rebounds, while also rejecting two Panther shots.
"It was an interesting game, and we lost the game by six points and didn't have all of our weapons firing on all cylinders," head coach Stephanie Glance said. "Some of our leading scorers didn't have a very good game, and we still only lost by six on someone's home court. There were opportunities to win the game, but we lost the game on the defensive end. On defense, if we could have gotten a few more stops and controlled a few more possessions the outcome would have been different."
Marley Hall netted 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Katie Broadway added 13 points. Katy Winge set a career-high 10 points in 29 minutes of play. UNI (11-6, 4-2 MVC) outrebounded ISU (8-8, 3-2 MVC) 44-36 and just out shot the Redbirds, going 44 percent from the field, while Illinois State shot 41 percent.
Hall sank a jumper in the first minute of the game, but the Redbirds were held scoreless for nearly four minutes, while the Panthers went on an 8-0 run that lasted 3:12 for an 8-2 advantage with 15:50 left in the first half. Broadway sank a shot from the free throw line to cut UNI's lead to three, 8-5, but Northern Iowa responded with a 9-0 run, increasing its lead to 12 points, 17-5, with 13:33 remaining before the break. Rachel Madrigal had five of UNI's nine points during the run.
The Redbirds scored five-straight points in a 13-6 run to cut the Panthers' lead to five, 23-18, with 8:41 left before the intermission. Hall had six points in the run, while Russell netted five, including ISU's only three of the half. ISU only scored 10 points in the final seven minutes of the first half with four of them coming from Broadway. Illinois State wasn't able to battle back from Northern Iowa's early runs and went into the locker room down by eight points, 36-28.
At the half, Hall led the Redbirds with 11 points, while Russell added nine. Both Hall and Russell brought down four boards. Only four Redbirds scored in the first half with 26 of the 28 points coming from Hall, Russell and Broadway, who tallied six. UNI outrebounded ISU in the first half, 23-17. The Panthers shot 43 percent from the field. The Redbirds had a slow start, but ended the first half shooting 37 percent from the field.
Illinois State went on a 5-0 run to get within seven, 42-35, but Northern Iowa immediately answered with a three pointer to get its lead back to 10 points with 16:19 left in the game. Northern Iowa grabbed a 13-point lead with 11:30 left in the game, but both teams traded points for nearly nine minutes, until Winge and Chloe Nelson combined for 11 points over two minutes. The duo connected on three shots from beyond the arc to get ISU within seven points, 69-62, with 5:09 remaining.
Russell made five-straight points for the Redbirds, including nine of ISU's last 11 points of the game, but Russell's late effort wasn't enough, as Illinois State fell by six points, 79-73.
After three-straight road games, ISU will return to Redbird Arena to host Drake Friday at 7:05 p.m.
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