By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL-The Illinois State women’s basketball team fell to Western Illinois inside Redbird Arena Monday night, 79-64. The Redbirds scored 44 points after halftime, including 29 in the fourth quarter. The 29 points are the most points scored by ISU in a quarter this season.
Octavia Crump scored 20 points for the Redbirds, connecting on 7-of-12 attempts from the field to go along with six free throws. Colleene Smith and Brechelle Beachum both added nine points apiece. The Redbirds (2-9) shot 34 percent for the game. ISU controlled the boards, pulling down 46 rebounds, as WIU grabbed 44.
Western Illinois (7-6) connected on 43 percent of its shot attempts and made 10 3-pointers. The Leathernecks’ Emily Clemons was a perfect 5-of-5 from behind the arc and led all scorers with 22 points. The Leathernecks forced 18 Redbird turnovers and converted the ISU miscues into 24 points.
WIU opened the game on a 12-2 run and shot 4-of-7 from the floor with two 3-pointers. Western Illinois then went on a 9-4 run and ended the quarter with a 21-8 advantage. Clemons led all scorers with six points on a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter. Four different Redbirds scored in the quarter.
Illinois State found their offense early in the second quarter, as it scored on its first four possessions. Despite the fast start, ISU was only able to cut the Leatherneck lead down to 10 points, 27-17. In the second quarter, the Redbirds were scoreless for five minutes, allowing the Leathernecks to go on a 10-0 run and gain their largest lead of the half, 37-17. Smith ended the ISU drought with an and-one play. With seconds ticking down in the half, Western Illinois scored a layup and went into the locker room with a 39-20 advantage over the Redbirds.
The Leathernecks continued their hot shooting out of the halftime break, as they made their seventh and eighth 3-pointers of the game. WIU also scored two-straight breakaway layups to increase its run to 12-3, forcing ISU to take a timeout. The Redbirds scored back-to-back buckets and made two free throws out of the timeout to cut the WIU lead down to 20 points, 51-31. In the final two minutes of the quarter, the Leathernecks hit a pair of threes to raise their total to 10. After three quarters, Western Illinois led, 57-35.
In the fourth quarter, the Redbirds made a furious comeback, as they went on an 18-4 run in the final four minutes, cutting the WIU lead down to single-digits, 73-64. Crump carried the load, scoring 12 of her 20 points in the final period. ISU outscored WIU, 29-22, in the fourth, but it was too little too late, as the Redbirds fell to the Leathernecks, 79-64.
With the non-conference season complete, ISU is set to open Missouri Valley Conference play Friday against Missouri State at 1 p.m.
