By ISU Sports Information
PEORIA, Ill. – Baskets were hard to come by Sunday afternoon between Illinois State and Bradley, with the two teams combining for just 25 made field goals. The Braves (8-18, 4-11 MVC) controlled the game after the first quarter and never looked back, holding the Redbirds (6-19, 4-10 MVC) to just eight baskets in a 52-38 loss at the Renaissance Center.
“We just could not score today and tried to force it so many times, when we should have just let the game slow down a bit and come back to us,” head coach Barb Smith said. “This is a long season and so many of our young players have had to play a lot of minutes, so we just need to push through the adversity here down the stretch and finish the regular season strong heading into the Valley tournament.”
The two teams played to a 4-4 tie through the first four minutes of action, before the Braves scored a couple of quick baskets to take an 8-4 at the first media time out. A pair of free throws by Colleene Smith cut the lead back to a basket at 8-6, but the Braves came back with five-straight points to widen the advantage to 13-6 with under three minutes to play in the first quarter.
ISU came right back and scored five-straight points of its own, capped off on a three-pointer by Taylor Stewart, to trim the Bradley lead to two points at 13-11. A free throw and a jumper by Millie Stevens then gave the Redbirds a 14-13 lead with less than a minute to play in the quarter, before Danielle Brewer connected on a three-pointer from the corner to give the Braves a 16-14 lead after the first quarter of action.
The Braves widened the lead to 22-14 after an Anneke Schlueter three-pointer from the corner at the 5:55 mark of the second quarter. During that stretch, the Redbirds were held scoreless, until Viria Livingston made a pair of free throws to make the score 22-16 with less than five minutes to play before halftime. A three-pointer by Schlueter was answered by one from Lexie Taylor to keep the deficit at six points at 25-19 with 2:47 to play. The Braves added five points over the final two-plus minutes of action to take a 30-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Bradley extended the lead to 36-23 on a three-pointer by Vanessa Markert midway through the third quarter, as ISU was able to manage just four points from the free throw line through the first five-plus minutes of the stanza. The Redbirds were not able to convert from the field for the remainder of the quarter and the Braves widened the lead to 40-26 headed to the final quarter of play.
A quick 6-0 run by the Redbirds to start the fourth quarter trimmed the Bradley lead to single digits at 40-32 with 8:22 to play. Bradley would answer with a couple quick baskets two minutes later to widen the advantage back to double digits at 44-32 with 6:09 left to play. A three-point play by Shakeela Fowler would cut the lead back to single digits at 44-35 and a free throw by Taylor cut the lead to eight at 44-36 with just over three minutes to play.
A drive to the hoop and score by Fowler with 2:18 to play cut the deficit to seven points for the Redbirds at 45-38, but that was as close as the Redbirds would get as the Braves clinched the game at the free throw line for the victory. Illinois State returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 25, when it begins a two-game home stand against in-state foe Southern Illinois. Tipoff will commence at 7:30 p.m., and can be heard on WJBC AM 1230.
Listen to postgame comments from head coach Barb Smith here.
