MARTIN, Tenn. – A three-pointer to tie it up with 25 seconds remaining from sharpshooter Mary Crompton was not enough as Illinois State (1-3) fell at UT Martin (3-2), 54-52, on Saturday.
Junior forward DeAnna Wilson led a trio of Redbirds in double-digit scoring, finishing with 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Maya Wong had 12 points, dishing out three assists and going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Graduate student Jada Stinson also put up 12 points, shooting 4-of-6 (66.6%) from beyond the arc.
UT Martin was led by Paige Pipkin who finished with 17 points, three assists and three steals.
TURNING POINT
After entering the fourth quarter trailing by 10 points, 46-36, the Redbird defense held the Skyhawks scoreless while rattling off an 11-0 run to pull ahead by one, 47-46, at the 2:46 mark. Wilson had eight of her 14 points during that stretch.
UT Martin responded with its first field goal of the period immediately after to regain the lead, which they maintained until Crompton's three-point field goal off an out-of-bounds play knotted the score up at 52-52 with 25 seconds to go. The Skyhawks then gained possession and ran the clock down, drawing a foul with one second remaining and hitting both of the free throws to secure the victory, 54-52.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- With Crompton's fourth quarter game-tying triple, the redshirt junior moved into sole possession of sixth place in ISU's top-10 list in career three-point field goals. The Iowa City, Iowa native currently has 148 career three-pointers and trails Maggie Krick (5th - 169), Jaci McCormack (4th – 183), Jenny Schmidt (3rd - 205), Katie Broadway (2nd - 225) and Kristi Cirone (1st - 229).
- The Redbirds outrebounded the Skyhawks, 34-27, and had a 16-7 advantage over UTM in points from the bench.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE
"I'm really proud of the way we battled down the stretch. It didn't go our way today but it's important to be tested in situations like that early in the season. We'll learn from this and get back to work on Monday."
UP NEXT
Illinois State will make the journey to the Golden State over break to participate in the UCI Thanksgiving Classic. While in Irvine, Calif., the Redbirds will face host UC Irvine on Friday before taking on Sacramento State to close out the trip on Saturday.
For all latest on Illinois State women's basketball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdWBB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
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