NORMAL, Ill. – Despite a phenomenal double-double performance from DeAnna Wilson (19 points and 10 rebounds), the Illinois State Redbirds fall in their final non-conference tune up of the 2022-23 season Sunday by a final of 63-49 to the Green Bay Phoenix.
The story of the afternoon would be the stifling Phoenix defense as they held ISU to a season-low 20 points in the first half, including six points in the entire second quarter, while focusing on the Redbirds' top scorer (Paige Robinson) as they held her to 12 points off 5-16 shooting.
Robinson's 12 points mark her lowest scoring effort this season since only scoring 9 in the season opener at Dayton on Nov. 10.
As the Redbirds were the first on the board off a Robinson jumper with 9:38 remaining in the first quarter, the lead would soon dissolve as Green Bay took a 3-2 lead off a three-pointer only 17 seconds left and never gave up the lead from that moment forward. As the first quarter saw ISU fight to stay in the game, Green Bay would expand their lead out to as many as six on three separate occasions, including to end the quarter as they led 20-14.
Then, in the second quarter, the visiting Phoenix ramped up and changed their game plan around defensively, as they held Illinois State to only six points in the second 10 minutes of action. As DeAnna Wilson and Paige Robinson scored five points for the Redbirds over nearly two minutes of action, the Green Bay lead stood at four with 5:48 remaining in the quarter.
The final 5:48 would see a tale of two stories as the Phoenix would end up going on a 13-0 to end the quarter while holding ISU off the board as the halftime lead stood at 17 points for the visitors. To end the second quarter, ISU would miss five shots while also turning the ball over twice.
After 20 minutes of play, Illinois State would see DeAnna Wilson lead the charge with six of the 20 points while also grabbing a team-high three rebounds alongside Maya Wong who had three boards of her own. The Phoenix, led by Sydney Levy's 10 points at the break, would also see twice as many team rebounds than ISU through the first 20 minutes (26-13).
The third quarter would see ISU show a lot of fight as they tried to crawl their way back into the contest. Robinson would get the scoring started early with a jumper nearly 30 seconds into the quarter. From there, Green Bay rebuilt their lead out to 18 off a Maddy Schreiber three before DeAnna Wilson responded with a jumper of her own to trim the deficit to 16. Wilson would go on to score the next three Redbird points as ISU would only trail by 13 with 7:19 remaining in the third. Then, Mary Crompton knocked down a triple of her own to make it a 10-point game as the quarter went under six minutes.
Then, the lead would fluctuate as it went from 11 to 9 back to 11 before Wilson made it a 45-36 game with 2:19 remaining as ISU looked to build upon its newfound momentum. Both sides would get free throws to fall for them as the lead was eight (46-38) with 41 seconds remaining. ISU looked to lock down on defense and carry some home court momentum into the fourth, but Green Bay saw a layup with 13 seconds on the clock and a buzzer-beating three go down to build the lead out to 13 as the final quarter loomed.
Despite the double-digit margin heading into the fourth, ISU would outscore the Phoenix 18-14 in the third quarter, which turned out to be the lone quarter on Sunday which held this directive.
Both sides were not looking to back down as the fourth quarter started, as DeAnna Wilson continued her hot play as she made it 53-42 with a pair of free throws as 7:09 remained. Then, Maya Wong knocked down a fast break three pointer to make it a single-digit margin before the Phoenix responded shortly after to rebuild the lead to 10.
The final 5:42 of the fourth quarter would not see the Phoenix lead go below 10 points as it turned into a free throw battle, with the Phoenix using their strength in the category to get the game to its final 14-point margin.
Coming into Sunday, Green Bay led Division I in free throw percentage with a mark of 87 percent. The Phoenix would go 10-15 Sunday for a percentage of 66.7%, including a perfect 2-2 in the second quarter and 4-4 in the fourth.
Green Bay was led in scoring by Jasmine Kondrakiewicz who finished her night with 12 points and four rebounds. The other Phoenix athlete in double figures Sunday would be Levy, who was held scoreless in the second half, but still finished with 10 points. Green Bay saw Cassie Schiltz led the way in rebounds with 11 on the afternoon.
IN THE BOX SCORE:
- DeAnna Wilson would gather her third double-double of the season, first since Nov. 15, with her 19 points and 10 rebounds.
- Paige Robinson was the only other Redbird to finish in double figures as she gathered 12 points on the afternoon to go along with two assists.
- The Phoenix led for 38:44 while the Redbirds held a lead for only 21 seconds on Sunday.
- Green Bay saw 26 bench points compared to ISU's 2 on Sunday.
- Illinois State forced 18 Phoenix turnovers while only holding seven of their own.
The Redbirds now turn their attention to the start of Missouri Valley Conference play, as they will be home for the first two MVC contests, beginning with the Drake Bulldogs coming to town Dec. 30 for a 6:30 p.m. CT tip inside CEFCU Arena.
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