Southern Illinois University
3-18, 2-10MVC
Illinois State*
14-8, 8-5MVC
Women's Basketball Falls to Illinois State, 85-63
02/14/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Taren O'Brien scored 11 points and dished out four assists to ignite a 31-7 Redbird run at the start of second half, as Illinois State (14-8, 8-5) blew past Southern Illinois (3-18, 2-10), 85-63, earlier today at SIU Arena.
With the win, ISU became the second straight Valley opponent to post a two-game sweep over the Dawgs this season. The Redbirds also collected their third consecutive win, while SIU dropped its third in a row.
SIU had some things cooking in the first half, where it opened the game with a 7-0 run fueled by five points from Danette Jones.
Trailing 14-12 with 12:21 remaining, the Salukis used another run, this time a 11-0 jaunt, to take a build a 23-14 advantage at the 8:43 mark.
Following a technical foul which was charged to ISU's bench, SIU would miss on seven straight possessions, while the Redbirds climbed back into the game.
After a pair of free throws by Tiffany Crutcher ended a 5:02 scoreless drought for the Salukis, both teams would then battle to a 34-34 tie at the break.
In what seemed as though ISU was challenged by its head coach at haltime, the Redbirds stormed out of the locker room as an entire different team.
Rallying behind O'Brien, the Redbirds opened the second half with 14 unanswered points and later turned those into a stunning 31-7 run. SIU shot a freezing 3-of-20 (.150) during the stretch, which pushed ISU's lead to 65-41 with just under 10 minutes left to play.
Although getting a huge lift from Clarise Jones, who came off the bench to score 17 second half points, SIU never did recover from the shocking Redbird attack, as the Salukis went on to lose, 85-63.
SIU's starting five had a rough time putting points on the board against ISU's two-three zone defense. In fact, the combination of D. Jones (4-of-8), Katie Berwanger (1-of-8), Crutcher (2-of-10), Dana Pinkston (1-of-12) and Daphney Desamours (1-of-3) shot a mere 9-of-41 (21.9 pct.) from the field, and accounted for only 25 points.
Meanwhile, ISU's starters were having plenty of success against SIU's two-three zone. All five starters, including Katie Donovan (19), Erin Keeney (11), Zora Skrabalova (13), O'Brien (20) and Jaci McCormack (14) posted double figures in the scoring column.
In addition to her 20 points, O'Brien dished out six assists, had four steals and didn't turn the ball over one time in 35 minutes.
As mentioned before, both ISU and SIU played two-three zones, which forced a lot of three-point shots. Because of that type of defense, the two teams combined for a 21-of-57 effort from behind the three-point arc with ISU hitting 9-of-34 shots and SIU making 12-of-23.
C. Jones shot 6-of-11 from the field, including a near-perfect 4-of-5 from three-point range en route to a season-high 17 points to lead the Dawgs. Reserve Amy Hayden also had a good day off the bench scoring 11 points on 4-of-8 field goals, including 3-of-5 from downtown. Needless to say, C. Jones and Hayden outscored the entire Saluki starting five.
It's safe to say that rebounding hurt ISU somewhat in the first half, where they fell victim to a 27-18 SIU advantage on the glass. The Redbirds, however, regrouped to out-rebound the Salukis, 26-17, in the second half, and force a 44-44 tie on the boards.
SIU returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 19, when it plays at Wichita State. Tip off is at 7:05 p.m.
