By ISU Sports Information
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A career-high 17-points from Colleene Smith kept Illinois State close to Indiana State on the road for the majority of the second half of play, but the Sycamores (6-8, 2-1 MVC) held on down the stretch for a 63-56 win over the Redbirds (3-11, 1-2 MVC) at the Hulman Center Sunday afternoon.
Smith bested her previous career high of 12 points with a 7-for-12 effort from the field and finished with a double-double against the Sycamores, adding 12 rebounds. Octavia Crump was the other Redbird in double figures with 12 points, six of which came from the free throw line, and Lexie Taylor scored all eight of her points in the second half for Illinois State.
PODCAST: Listen to the postgame interview with coach Barb Smith.
“I thought it was a very slow start and was hard for us to get going there at the beginning,” ISU head coach Barb Smith said. “I took us so long to get going in the first half, but in the second half I felt we came out and played hard. We put together runs on offense and our defense and energy were much better. We put ourselves in a hole and just ran out of time there at the end.”
The Sycamores controlled the game on the offensive end early, jumping out to a 6-0 lead as Illinois State was held to just one field goal attempt through the first three-plus minutes of the game. Following a time out, Smith came off the bench and scored back-to-back baskets for the Redbirds to trim the deficit to 6-4. Indiana State answered back with another 6-0 run to widen the lead to 12-4, before Smith scored her third basket of the opening quarter to cut the lead to six points.
After an Indiana State basket, Smith scored once again to make the score 14-8 in favor of the Sycamores who would score the final three points of the half to take a 17-8 advantage after one quarter of play. Shakeela Fowler scored the first points of the Redbirds in the second quarter and Smith added a pair of free throws early on to cut the Indiana State lead to 19-12.
The Redbirds held the Sycamores scoreless for nearly five minutes, before a layup by Jennifer Mackowiak ended the 0-for-6 stretch and extended the Indiana State lead to 21-12. Points were hard to come by for both teams, but the Redbird defense forced four turnovers during the stretch and a free throw by Viria Livingston trimmed the Indiana State lead to 21-13.
A pair of free throws by Cierra Ceazer widened the lead back to eight points at 23-13, before the Redbirds scored four-straight points on a jumper by Crump and a pair of free throws by Katrina Beck to trim the advantage to six points at 23-17. Indiana State ended the second quarter by scoring six points from the free throw line to take a 29-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Indiana State scored the first five points of the third quarter, all of which came from Alexis Newbolt, to widen the lead out to 34-17. The Redbirds came back with the next four points, after layups by Taylor Stewart and Smith, to cut the advantage to 34-21 with 6:12 to play in the third quarter. The Redbirds would then cut the lead to single digits at 36-28, after four-straight points from Crump and a three-pointer by Taylor gave ISU a 7-0 run over 1:06 of action.
The run extended to 11-2 in favor of the Redbirds, following a pair of free throws by Taylor cut the Indiana State lead to just five points at 38-33 with 1:23 left to play in the quarter. The Sycamores ended the quarter on a 5-0 run, as Joyea Marshall converted a layup at the buzzer to give Indiana State a 10-point lead at 43-33 headed into the fourth quarter.
Taylor came right and nailed her second three-pointer of the game to trim the lead to 43-36 and Stewart added a jumper to trim the lead to six at 44-38. A Sycamore basket would extend the lead back to eight points, before a jumper by Beck trimmed the lead back to six points at 46-40 with 8:29 to play. Smith would then make a tough jumper in the lane to cut the Indiana State lead to four points at 46-42 with 6:50 left in the contest.
A jumper by Fowler cut the lead to just a basket at 46-44 with just over six minutes left in the game, before a basket by the Sycamores widened the lead back to four points at 48-44. A free throw each by Crump and Smith cut the lead back to two points, before a three-pointer by Ceazer widened the lead back to five points. However, Fowler came right back down and connected on a jumper of her own to cut the lead back to three points at 51-48 with 4:32 to play.
The Sycamores would widen the lead back out to 56-49 after a pair of baskets, before Crump made a layup to trim the lead back to five points at 56-51. Smith then picked up a steal and scored on a layup to make the Indiana State just three points at 56-53 with 1:24 to play. Another turnover led to a pair of free throw attempts for Fowler, who made the first of two from the line to cut the lead to a basket at 56-54.
Two-straight baskets by Indiana State gave the Sycamores a 60-54 lead with 51 seconds left in the game and the Sycamores would seal the game from the free throw line down the stretch to come away with the 63-56 victory over the Redbirds.
Illinois State returns to action Friday for the first of two games in Iowa against Northern Iowa.
