NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team returns to Doug Collins Court for its last home game of the regular season. ISU hosts Missouri State Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
The Redbirds came up short, after a strong second-half surge, falling to Wichita State, 46-41, Friday evening at Redbird Arena. Illinois State was led by Lindsay Smith, who recorded 11 points to accompany six rebounds. Seven of those points came from the charity stripe, where L. Smith was 7-of-8 from behind the line. Wichita State was led by Alex Harden, who led all scorers with 17 points.
The Redbirds shot 33 percent from the field, while the Shockers found the bottom of the net on 36 percent of their shots. ISU won the three-point battle, shooting 25 percent from behind the arc, while WSU was scoreless from three-point range.
ILLINOIS STATE-MISSOURI STATE SERIES
Missouri State leads the all-time series with Illinois State, 36-31. The two teams have met annually since 1984. ISU won 12 of the first 15 meetings. From 1991-2005, Missouri State posted a 26-6 record against the Redbirds, including a string of 11-consecutive wins. An upset win for the Redbirds in the 2005 MVC Tournament started a 10-1 streak over the Lady Bears, which included eight-straight wins. That streak was snapped with a 76-61 loss at Missouri State win on Jan. 11, 2011. Illinois State leads the Lady Bears, 18-14, in games played at Normal, Illinois.
FLASHBACK: MISSOURI STATE 58, ILLINOIS STATE 35 (Jan. 25)
Despite pulling within three points in the middle of the second half, a late 22-2 run by the Lady Bears proved to be too much, as the Illinois State women's basketball team fell to Missouri State, 58-35, at JQH Arena. Katy Winge led all scorers with 17 points in the contest. Octavia Crump added eight points with six coming in the second half, while Zenobia Bess scored five in the contest. Illinois State (0-18, 0-7 MVC) shot 24 percent from the field, while the late run by Missouri State (8-10, 5-2 MVC) helped MSU connect on 36 percent of its field goal attempts. Taylor Stewart led the Redbirds on the boards, as she tied a career high with eight rebounds, which she accomplished for the third time this season. Mary Sims grabbed six boards, while Bess and Colleene Smith both collected five rebounds. MSU had a slight advantage on the boards, as it pulled down 37, compared to ISU's 35 rebounds.
CAN'T HOLD ON
The Redbirds took a two-point lead, 41-39, against MVC-leader Wichita State (Feb. 20) with 4:29 left in Friday's game, but ISU's offensive attack came to a stop. Illinois State wasn't able to score again in the game, allowing Wichita State to score the final seven points and take the win, 46-41. ISU had worked its way back from a 10-point deficit thanks to a 13-5 run.
MUCH IMPROVED
The last time the Redbirds played Wichita State (Jan. 23), the Shockers netted six 3-pointers, draining 50 percent of their shots from three-point range. On Friday (Feb. 20), WSU was unable to connect from beyond the arc, going 0-of-13 from three-point territory. It was the first time this season ISU kept an opponent from scoring a 3-pointer. ISU's zone defense proved to be the difference between the games.
TWO DIFFERENT HALVES
Illinois State struggled to get its offense going in the first half of Friday's game against Wichita State (Feb. 20), as it netted just nine points by the 5:00 mark. Illinois State's points came from three field goals and a pair of free throws. ISU had several scoring droughts and WSU's press forced 11 Redbird turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the game. ISU ended the first half with 16 points and 14 turnovers. ISU came out of the locker room with a new intensity in the second half, working its way back from a 10-point deficit to take a two-point lead with 4:29 remaining in the game. ISU scored 25 second-half points and committed eight turnovers.
CRUMP'S NEW RHYTHM
Octavia Crump led the Redbirds in scoring in four of five games from Jan. 30 to Feb. 13, as she netted double-digit scoring performances during the five games, including two career-high performances. Over the five games, Crump averaged 17.6 points per game, while shooting 41 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line. Prior to that, Crump struggled from the field, averaging 4.6 points per game through five games from Jan. 9 through Jan. 25.
GAME SPEED
Though she has only been back on the court for six games, junior Lindsay Smith has quickly gotten back to her old self, recording five steals against Drake (Feb. 8). The five steals against the Bulldogs set a career high for Smith. A week later at Evansville (Feb. 15), Smith dished out six assists, which also set a career high. Through seven games on the court, Smith has led the Redbirds in assists four times and twice in steals.
JUST MISSED IT
Junior transfer Mary Sims just missed a double-double against Evansville (Feb. 15), as she pulled down a career-high nine rebounds and scored 12 points, all of which came in the second half. The 12 points came off of 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range to go along with a jumper and a free throw.
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