Southern Illinois University
Illinois St
Women's Basketball Falls to Illinois State, 69-67
01/20/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2002
Carbondale, Ill. - Illinois State (4-12, 2-5) went on a 14-2 run late in the second half to overcome an 11-point deficit and beat Southern Illinois (4-12, 0-7) by a score of 69-67 earlier today in Missouri Valley Conference action at SIU Arena.
The loss marked SIU's ninth straight as the Salukis' winless drought continued. SIU hasn't won a game since Dec. 8 when the Salukis defeated Tennessee State.
Holly Teague scored 16 points in the first 16 minutes of the first half, but was held to just one point after halftime thanks to a swarming Redbird defense.
Teague's offensive power, however, led SIU to a 39-32 lead at the break which marked the first time the Salukis led at the half since December 30 vs. Creighton (35-33).
SIU came out and stretched its lead to 56-45 at the 10:00 mark of the second half, but the 'Birds turned up the heat defensively.
Following a Steph Reichle free throw, and a steal-and-layup 12 seconds later, Illinois State ignited an 11-0 run which tied the game at 56-56 with 7:20 remaining.
Molly McDowell then answered with a baseline jumper 15 seconds later, but a Katie Donovan free throw and two more points by Reichle put the Redbirds ahead for the first time in the second half, 59-58, with 5:07 left.
While ISU continued to dominate defensively, Reichle fed Stacey White for a wide open three-pointer with 4:33 left before another defensive stop led to a Kristi Larson hook shot with 3:35 remaining. Both baskets added to a 64-58 Redbird lead.
A pair of Taren O'Brien free throws would then give ISU its biggest lead of the game at 66-59 (2:31), but the Salukis countered with a late run of their own.
Down by seven, the Salukis pulled to within two on a pair of McDowell free throws which narrowed the Redbird lead to 68-66 with 21 seconds left.
A quick foul by Hillary Phillips then sent Larson to the free throw line with 13 seconds remaining, but she missed on both attempts, leaving hope for the Salukis.
Five seconds later, SIU had its chance to tie the game when Reichle fouled McDowell, but McDowell split her pair of freebees which allowed the 'Birds to keep their 68-67 advantage.
White then hit one last free throw with four seconds left to cap off the 69-67 win.
White and Larson each scored 16 points to lead all ISU scorers. White shot 4-of-6 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line en-route to a career-high afternoon. O'Brien then followed with 15, while Donovan added 10 to round out the Redbirds' scoring attack.
The Salukis were led by Teague's 17 points. Jodi Heiden followed with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. McDowell (12) and Phillips (11) also posted double-digits for SIU.
SIU will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 24, at Northern Iowa (7:05 p.m.).
