CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Ashli O'Neal led all scorers with 19 points and Kierra Isaiah added 13 but Indiana State went on a nearly four-and-a-half-minute scoring drought in the second quarter resulting in a 12-0 Illinois run that was too much to overcome in a 75-57 loss in Champaign Wednesday night.
 
Until that point, the game had remained close with eight lead changes. The Sycamores (4-3) had led by as many as five late in the first quarter. But the 12-0 run for the Illini (6-2), which was only ended by an O'Neal jump shot with 10 seconds to go in the half, gave the hosts a nine-point lead at the break.
 
Indiana State fought back in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to as little as three midway through the third, but cold shooting that dominated the second half for the Trees prevented any full comeback. ISU shot just 25.9 percent in the second half after scoring at a 48.3 percent clip before halftime.  
 
"I think we battled them decently well in the first half," Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall said. "We tried to come back in the third quarter. We got within three but I don't know if we had enough gas to do what we needed to do. At halftime, I was upset because we are not playing the defense the way that Indiana State plays defense. We didn't impose our will upon them and we just backed up. To me, that is one of the things that is most disappointing. That is not what my team does, but we did that tonight."
 
And while Indiana State went cold, the Fighting Illini found their groove. Illinois was 15 of 25 in the second half, a 60 percent mark that kept the Sycamores at bay. And highlighted Indiana State's surprising defensive deficiency.
 
"I attribute a lot of that to our defense," Hall said of her team's cold second half shooting. "If we are not defending and we are giving up buckets, then you feel bad about yourself you go back to the other end, you aren't making a basket and it is just a domino effect. We didn't really execute as well. We executed better in this game than we have in some others, I just feel like we ran out of gas. When we got to and around the rim, they were a lot longer than we were and we took a lot of blocks (seven)."
 
O'Neal's 19 points seem to be no surprise – she has reached double figures in every game this season and in 17 of her last 18 games – but Illinois adjusted to the 5-foot-5 threat and held her scoreless in the final period.
 
However, that allowed Isaiah to step up and reach double figures for the second time this season and fourth time in her career. The senior forward shot 56 percent in the game as the Sycamores found her in the paint.
 
"I think what happened is a lot of the attention was going to Ashli O'Neal coming off of ball screens so people are going to try to help her," Hall said of Isaiah's success. "Ashli was able to do a good job today of hitting that pocket pass and Kierra finished."
 
Despite playing two games in three days – similar to a weekend of action in Missouri Valley Conference play – there is no rest for the Sycamores as they return to Terre Haute to host UIC (2-5) on Saturday at the Hulman Center. The Flames are coming off a 62-54 win at Evansville Wednesday evening.
 
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