Octavia Crump scored 15 points in ISU's 72-60 loss to Butler. (goredbirds.com)
By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women’s basketball team fell at the hands of Butler, 72-60, Monday afternoon at Redbird Arena.
Illinois State (0-10) had three players score in double figures. Octavia Crump led the Redbirds with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Stekara Hall and Katy Winge added 11 points apiece. Colleene Smith recorded her second-straight double-digit rebound performance, as she pulled down 10 boards.
ISU was 25-of-70 from the field (35.7 percent) and outrebounded Butler, 49-34. The Bulldogs shot 26-of-55 (47.3 percent) from the field and scored 26 points off of ISU’s 22 turnovers.
Taylor Stewart got the scoring underway for the Redbirds with a layup on ISU’s first possession. The Bulldogs and Redbirds then traded buckets through the first 10 minutes of the half. At the 9:53 mark, Butler went on a 7-3 run after ISU turned the ball over on consecutive trips, extending its lead to 25-18.
Hall had a steal and a score to cut the Bulldog lead to 22-27, but the Redbirds couldn’t sustain a run. ISU went on a five-minute scoring drought before Hall made another layup in the last minute of the half. The Redbirds ended the half shooting 1-of-10 down the stretch and went into the locker room trailing Butler by seven points at 31-24.
Hall led the Redbirds with nine first-half points; she also had three rebounds, two steals and a three-pointer. ISU shot 10-of-37 (27 percent) in the half and outrebounded Butler, 25-18. Despite pulling down more boards than the Bulldogs, Butler had 20 points in the paint compared to ISU’s 16.
ISU started the second half strong with a 5-0 run, capped by a Winge three-point play. Butler fired right back with an 8-0 run, however, converting two layups off back-to-back ISU turnovers.
Crump, who was limited in the first half because of foul trouble, later scored six straight points for ISU during an 8-1 Redbird run, cutting Butler’s lead to 40-37. The Redbirds trailed by a score of just 46-43 with 9:05 left to play, before Butler rattled of 10-straight points to salt away the win.
Butler (4-8) had five players score in double figures. Blaire Langlois led the Bulldogs with 15 points and five rebounds. Ijeoma Uchendu dropped in 14 points and had four steals.
The Redbirds will host No. 25 DePaul Sunday at Redbird Arena to close out the non-conference schedule. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
