By ISU Sports Information.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Illinois State senior Octavia Crump scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but eight three-pointers from Northern Iowa propelled the Panthers (9-7, 4-1 MVC) to a 65-51 win over the Redbirds (3-12, 1-3 MVC) Friday night at the McLeod Center.
Shakeela Fowler joined Crump as the only other Redbird in double figures with 11 points, while Colleene Smith chipped in seven points and added a game-high 11 rebounds. Illinois State out-rebounded Northern Iowa 43-33 in the contest, but the three-point shooting effort by the Panthers proved to be the difference.
“I loved the fight our players showed tonight and they battled hard,” ISU head coach Barb Smith said. “We just got ourselves into bad situations at times on the defensive end and one player out of alignment in our system causes problems. We just need to continue to learn this defense and improve, and we are getting better each game.”
The Panthers jumped out to a 9-0 lead, before the Redbirds battled back with jumper by Crump and a pair of free throws by Fowler to trim the deficit to 9-4. UNI would then widen the lead back to 14-7, but Fowler made a layup and Crump connected from just inside the three-point arch to cut the lead to 14-11 with 1:14 left in the first quarter. Mikaela Morgan connected from three-point range on the next possession, as the Panthers took a 17-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
UNI used a 6-0 to start the second quarter to take a 23-11 lead, before Crump connected on a jumper to give the Redbirds their first points of the quarter. Keitel then connected on jumper to widen the UNI advantage to 25-13, however Smith battled back on the opposite end and made her first basket of the game to cut the lead back to 10 at 25-15 with 5:55 left before the break.
A driving layup by Taylor Stewart cut the UNI lead back to single digits at 30-21 with 2:20 left on the clock. The Panthers then finished the half on a 7-0 run over the last 1:53 of action to take a 37-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. Crump led the way for ISU in the first half with nine points, and Fowler added six points for the Redbirds.
Smith scored the first points of the third quarter on a layup, after a nice drive and dish from Katrina Beck, to make the score 37-23 before UNI scored five-straight points to extend the advantage to 42-23. The UNI would grow to 45-25, before the Redbirds answered with a quick 6-0 run that was capped off by a pair of layups by Smith to make the score 45-31 with 3:24 left to play in the 3rd quarter. Crump would add three free throws to trim the lead to 47-34.
Fowler would later answer a UNI three-pointer with one of her own from the corner to make the score 52-39 with 26 seconds left in the period, before a late basket gave the Panthers a 54-39 lead headed into the final quarter of play. The Redbirds opened the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run, all of which were scored by Viria Livingston, to cut the lead back to 10 points at 54-44 with 7:35 left in the game.
The Panthers answered with a 5-0 run of their own to extend the advantage back out to 59-44 with under six minutes left in the game. Lexi Taylor later made three shots from the foul line, after being fouled on a three-point attempt, to cut the lead back to 59-47 a minute later. A 6-0 run by UNI widened the advantage to 65-47, before a transition layup by Crump with under two minutes to play cut the lead back to 16 points at 65-49. A late jumper by Fowler capped off the scoring, as UNI dribbled it out for the 65-51 victory.
The Redbirds continue their road swing in the state of Iowa on Sunday, Jan. 17, when they face off against the Drake Bulldogs at 6 p.m. at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.
