Terre Haute, Ind. ? Indiana State (7-7, 3-0 MVC) played in their 14th game of the season this afternoon at Hulman Center, hosting the Illinois State Redbirds (11-4, 2-1 MVC) who came to Terre Haute with a nine-game winning streak.
Behind a 25-point effort from Kelsey Luna, the Sycamores once again came from behind at halftime to defeat the Redbirds 72-65 to stay perfect in Valley play and end the Redbird winning streak.
In eleven of ISU's 14 games, the Sycamores have been behind heading into halftime and after today, have come-from-behind in four of those games to snag the victory setting a new Indiana State record.
Illinois State jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead within the first two-and-a-half minutes which was topped off by a Kristie Cirone three-pointer before Indiana State called a 30-second timeout to try and cool off the Redbirds.
After the timeout, the Sycamores scored on their next two possessions on jumpers by Kelsie Cooley and Kara Schilli and on their next turn down the court, Luna tied the ballgame at 9-all when she nailed a three-pointer. The Sycamores took their first lead of the game at 15:25 when Bianca Jarrett hit a jump shot to put Indiana State up by two, 11-9. After Cirone netted the ballgame at 11-all, Luna hit another three-pointer to put the Sycamores up by three at 14-11 with 14:50 showing on the clock.
The Redbirds went on a 7-2 run in the next two minutes to regain the lead 18-16 with 12:44 to go with Ashley Sandstead hitting a three-pointer to finish off the Redbirds scoring run.
Jarrett went 2-for-2 at the free throw line after being fouled on a layup attempt and Deja Mattox followed with a three-point basket to put Indiana State back up by three at 21-18 with 11:35 remaining in the first half.
Illinois State scored the next seven points and saw Sandstead once again finish off their scoring run with a three-pointer at 9:21 to put the visitors up by four. They increased their lead to six, the largest of the half, when Cirone converted a layup at 7:23. Cirone finished the first half with seven points and six assists.
Indiana State cut the lead to two at 31-29 with 1:50 to go. Luna made good on a jumper to finish with ten points and four rebounds in the first twenty-minute stanza. Jarrett made another two free throws and Shannon Thomas took the ball to the basket to bank in a layup to cut the Redbird lead to two. However, Illinois State scored four straight points to put the score at 35-29 and take a six point lead heading into halftime.
The first half saw three ties and six different lead changes in what turned out to be a fast paced period. The Sycamores were a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and shot 36 percent from the field. Illinois State went 0-for-3 from the free-throw line but shot 42 percent from the field and registered 22 points inside the paint. Nicolle Lewis tallied eight first-half points to lead the Redbirds in scoring.
To begin the second period, the Redbirds made a mistake and left Luna, the third-best three-point shooter in Indiana State history, wide open on the left baseline; Luna drilled the trey and pulled her team within three early on at 35-32.
Luna's three-pointer was part of a 14-2 Sycamore run that began the second half. Jarrett, who comes off the bench and is usually the spark for Indiana State, made a three-pointer and then a jumper on the next Sycamore possession to lead the scoring run that put the Sycamores up by six, 43-37, with 15:21 left in the game.
The Redbirds did what they had been doing the entire game whenever the Sycamores made a scoring run and came back by outscoring Indiana State 8-2 in the next two minutes, led by Cirone who tallied four of those eight points. With 12:56 remaining, the Redbirds tied the game up at 45-all on a Cirone free-throw. However, less than 30 seconds later, Luna nailed another three-pointer to put the Sycamores ahead by three.
Illinois State regained the lead and went up by three 51-48 at 9:53 when Shala Jackson, Kenyatta Shelton, and Cirone made back-to-back-to-back buckets in less than two minutes. In a back-and-forth ballgame, the Sycamores then went up by three at 54-51 with 8:40 remaining when Mattox made consecutive buckets and Jarrett converted a layup to score her 14th and 15th points of the game tying her career high. Jarrett would later add a free-throw to finish with 16 points setting a new career high point total and finishing as the Sycamores second leading scorer.
Indiana State went up by eight, 64-56, with 1:27 left to go in the game thanks to Luna who drained her fifth three-pointer of the match and also added a two-point basket to help the Sycamores cushion their lead. A strong 10-for-12 performance at the free-throw line late in the game also helped Indiana State run away with a 72-65 victory. The Redbirds managed to cut the lead to four with 54 seconds left to play but that's as close as they would come.
The Sycamores shot 39 perfect for the game on 22-56 shooting and received 25 points from Luna who went 5-for-10 from behind the arc. Jarrett added 16 points, two assists, and five rebounds. Mattox also chipped in 12 points and five rebounds.
For the Redbirds, the team shot 37.5 percent on 27-72 shooting. Cirone tallied 16 points and nine assists. The standout guard needed just four additional points to register at least 20 in the past seven games which would have broken an Illinois State record. Lewis and Ashleen Bracey chipped in 12 and 10 respectively.
Indiana State will be on the road for their next two matchups. On January 15, the Sycamores will face off at Wichita State for an 8:05 p.m. (EDT) tip-off.
Then on Saturday, January 17, Indiana State plays Missouri State at 2:05 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
INDIANA STATE VS. ILLINOIS STATE WOMEN'S B-BALL QUOTES 1-10-09
Illinois State Head Coach
On the second half
“I give them a lot of credit. It is a great rivalry game for us, always has been, always will be. It's getting tougher for us, because I really like Jim and his staff and I respect those girls. I am happy for them, they are playing extremely well. I felt like, really to win on the road in this league, you've got to be assignment correct on the defensive end and you've got to do a good job on the boards, and I really felt in the second half we didn't do either. It's a little bit of us, and a lot of them. I think it's so important to give them some credit for their aggressiveness and the fight they came out with in the second half.”
Indiana State Junior Guard Kelsey Luna
On defending Cirone, the defense stepping up in the second half, and the crowd
“As far as Cirone is concerned she is definitely a very talented player. She needs to be respected and she deserves a lot of attention. So, one of our main keys was to keep on her and make sure someone's on her and know where she is at all times. And the energy, that not only came from our team but it came from this crowd, and thanks to Chad and Natalie. We just had an unbelievable situation to have so many fans come out here and we just couldn't of been more excited to play in front of all these people.
Indiana State Freshman Guard Bianca Jarrett
On her defensive effort and career game
“I heard so much about Cirone and coach basically challenged me in practice. I wanted to stop her, since I heard she was the best player on their team. So my defense created everything for me, and it brings the energy to everybody on the team. I knew that's what I had to do. It was a big game today and that's why I had to step up.”
Indiana State Head Coach Jim Wiedie
On the game
“I hope the fans enjoyed that game. I thought it was one of the more exciting games that I've been a part of. Obviously, Chad and Natalie Overton, couldn't thank them enough for doing this for us two years in a row. Their support for Sycamore athletics provided that type of environment for our kids, and it's something you dream about coming to college to play. And anytime you have a chance to play the number one team and defending champs, with the rivalry that we have with Illinois State, I am just very proud of our kids and their effort and it's been the same thing the last six games or so. It's just a very resilient bunch, they keep battling. We always get behind at halftime, and we came out and did a really fine job defensively. for the entire game. We mixed some things up and hit some shots, anytime we hit some shots, we're generally in pretty decent shape.”