NORMAL, Ill. – Led by a masterful team performance, including a combined 44 points from Mary Crompton and Paige Robinson, Illinois State women's basketball was able to grind out an 87-76 win over Drake Friday night to start MVC play.
The Bulldogs were quick to fire as they immediately secured the opening tip and scored with a Maggie Bair layup only six seconds into the game. The Redbirds would respond with a Paige Robinson three 16 seconds later to take an early 3-2 lead. The teams would trade blows as neither side got ahead by more than two until Mary Crompton hit a triple at 6:08 to make it 13-10 ISU.
The Redbirds would outscore Drake 16-10 in the remainder of the quarter as they looked to build upon their momentum in the second frame. In the second 10 minutes of action, the Redbirds would build their lead to as many as 17 as the media timeout was called at 4:26 in the second with the Redbirds leading 43-26.
The Bulldogs would respond effectively as they closed the deficit to end the half, going on a 7-0 run over the last 2:15 of play to trail 49-38 heading into the break.
At the halftime break, both Robinson and Crompton would hold 11 points as Crompton would go 3-4 from the three-point line in the half while Robinson gathered a pair of rebounds of her own. For the Bulldogs after 20 minutes of play, Grace Berg would lead the way with nine points.
Straight out of the halftime break, ISU would pick up their stifling defense as they held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 4:51 of the frame. In that span, ISU would outscore Drake 11-2 as they held a 22-point lead (60-38) with 5:09 remaining.
Merely minutes later, graduate student Mary Crompton would knock down her sixth three-pointer of the game, with 3:08 left in the third, to become the 30th Redbird to eclipse the 1,000 point-mark. Crompton also becomes only the second Redbird to achieve this honor under the direction of Kristen Gillespie, after Juliunn Redmond would hit 1,000 points during last season.
After Crompton's history-making three, the Redbird lead did not fall under 16 for the remainder of the quarter, as ISU would go into the fourth with a 70-54 lead.
However, Drake would come out guns a blazing in the fourth as they ramped up their defensive efforts in hopes of trimming the lead and getting back into the game. As the Bulldogs worked hard to trim the lead, they would eventually gain the game its first single-digit margin (79-70) at 3:23 to go, the first time the game had been single-digits since 29-20 (0:31 in the first). From there, Maggie Bair tried her best to keep her team in it, but it was the resiliency of an ISU freshman would secure the win.
Freshman Abbie Aalsma, who had only made 10 free throws prior to Friday, stepped to the line with a seven-point lead (80-73) and 1:21 left. She would knock down a pair of free throws to build the lead out to nine. Aalsma would add one more free throw nearly 30 seconds later to make the game 85-74 at that point, as ISU looked to close the game out with the win.
Drake was led Friday by Grace Berg's 17 points. Meanwhile, both Anna Miller and Maggie Bair would notch a double-double on Friday as Miller finished with a career-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Bair saw 13 points and 12 rebounds to her name on the night.
IN THE BOX SCORE:
- Paige Robinson led all scorers Friday with 24 points off 8-19 shooting. She would be joined in double figures for the Redbirds by Mary Crompton (20 points, 6-7 from three) and Kate Bullman (10 points, 6 rebounds).
- The Redbirds scored 26 points off 19 Drake turnovers; ISU held a 17-to-14 assist to turnover ratio Friday.
- Illinois State held Drake, the 11th highest scoring offense in NCAA DI, seven points below their average (83.4). The Redbirds also held Drake, averaging 50% shooting, to a mark of 41.8% Friday.
- The Redbirds led for 37:28 while Drake led for 2:03 Friday evening.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Maya Wong
- Set a career-high with nine assists
- Mary Crompton
- Reached 20 points in a game for the second time this season.
- Paige Robinson
- Scored in double figures for the 10th consecutive game, only scoring in single figures in the season opener at Dayton.
The Redbirds return to action on Sunday, January 1 when the team plays host to the UNI Panthers in a 2 p.m. tip-off at CEFCU Arena.
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