By ISU Sports Information
DES MOINES, Iowa – Senior Colleene Smith scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds for Illinois State in a tough road contest at Drake, but a 58 percent shooting effort by the Bulldogs (12-5, 5-1 MVC) proved too much for the Redbirds (3-13, 1-4 MVC) in a 76-41 loss at the Knapp Center Sunday evening.
Smith led the way for the Redbirds on the defensive end with five steals as well, as ISU forced 24 turnovers by the Bulldogs. Shakeela Fowler added eight points and three assists for ISU, and Octavia Crump and Taylor Stewart each chipped in five points in the finale of the three-game road swing for the Redbirds.
“For the first quarter and a half, we stayed with them and were playing tough,” head coach Barb Smith said. “After that, we just stopped hitting shots and we couldn’t bounce back. They poured it on and we didn’t have an answer and couldn’t recover from that long scoring drought in the second half. Colleene did have a great game and jump-started us out there, and we needed that from a senior.”
Drake took a 6-2 lead, before Crump converted a three-point play as she was fouled in the paint to trim the deficit to 6-5 early in the first quarter. A quick basket by the Bulldogs was answered by Smith to make the score 8-7, before Drake went on a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 13-7 at the first media time out. The Bulldog lead would grow to as many as eight points at 17-9, however the Redbirds answered with a quick 5-0 run on a three-pointer by Lexie Taylor and a second-chance jumper by Stewart to trim the lead to 17-14. A layup by Caitlin Ingle at the buzzer would then give Drake a 19-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes of action.
A 10-2 run for Drake to start the second quarter widened the lead to 29-16, with a running jumper off the glass by Viria Livingston serving as the only points for the Redbirds during the first half of the period. A three-pointer by Katrina Beck out of the media time out trimmed the lead back to 29-19 with 4:26 remaining before halftime, but Drake fired back with a 5-0 run to extend the advantage back to 34-19. A three-pointer by Fowler then made the score 34-22 with under two minutes to play, however Ingle added a pair of quick layups to move the lead back to 38-22 with just over a minute left before the break.
A jumper by Smith with 54 seconds left on the clock were the final points of the half, as Drake took at 38-24 lead into the locker room at the break. The Bulldogs shot 59 percent from the field, while the Redbirds shot 33 percent from three-point range during the first 20 minutes of play.
The two teams traded baskets for the first three-plus minutes to start the third quarter, but Drake would go on an 18-3 run to extend the lead to 58-32, before Smith connected on a jumper for the Redbirds with under a minute to play in the quarter. A layup by Sara Rhine with 32 seconds left in the quarter gave the Bulldogs a 60-34 lead headed into the final quarter of action.
A jumper by Fowler at the 7:15 mark in the fourth quarter put the Redbirds on the scoreboard, however the Bulldogs answered with a 12-0 run to widen the lead to 76-36 with 1:55 left in the contest. A free throw by Stewart ended a six-plus minute scoring drought for the Redbirds and she added two more with 30.6 seconds left in the game. A jumper by Fowler capped off the scoring for the Redbirds, as the Bulldogs dribbled it out for the 76-41 victory.
Illinois State returns to action Friday when it hosts I-74 rival Bradley in a 7 p.m. contest on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
