ISU finishes up their season Sunday in Peoria vs Bradley (Photo courtesy goredbirds.com)
By ISU Sports Information
CHICAGO – The Illinois State women’s basketball team used a late run to cut Loyola’s 18-point lead, but the late push wasn’t enough, as the Redbirds fell to the Ramblers, 67-53, Friday at Gentile Arena.
Katy Winge led the Redbirds with 14 points, as Lindsay Smith and Octavia Crump were also in double figures.
L. Smith scored 12 points, while Crump added 11. ISU (1-26, 1-15 MVC) connected on 35 percent of its field goal attempts, while Loyola (5-21, 3-12 MVC) found the bottom of the net on 46 percent of its shot attempts. The Ramblers were led by Taylor Manuel, who had 19 points. L. Smith led ISU on the boards with six, while Winge and Mary Sims both grabbed five. In the game, the Redbirds dished out 10 assists and collected 10 steals.
“We missed open layups, threes and rebounds. If you do all of those things in the same game, you won’t be very productive,” head coach Barb Smith said. “We couldn’t get the ball inside and that was tough for us. We wanted to stop Manuel down low and were able to do that in the second half, but they were able to answer and had other players step up.”
After both teams were scoreless the first two minutes of the game, Loyola regrouped and took an early 9-5 lead, as the Ramblers went 4-of-5 from the field. Back-to-back baskets by the Redbirds tied the game, 11-11, with 11:30 left in the opening half. The two teams traded baskets in the middle of the half, until ISU took its first lead of the game, 18-17, off of a 3-pointer by L. Smith in the corner.
The Ramblers used a 6-0 run to take a 33-27 advantage with 1:20 left in the first half. Loyola was 4-of-5 during the run, while Illinois State struggled from the field, missing four-straight shots over two minutes. L. Smith sank a pair of free throws, pulling ISU within four, 33-29, heading into the locker room.
At the half, Crump led the Redbirds with nine points, shooting 4-of-6 from the field. L. Smith netted seven points, while Zenobia Bess and Winge both added four points apiece. Loyola’s Manuel led all scorers with 14 first-half points, as the Ramblers shot 54 percent from the field compared to ISU’s 38 percent. LU also had the advantage on the boards, grabbing 18 rebounds. ISU collected 14 boards, as Crump and Mackenzie Freeman led the Redbirds with three rebounds apiece.
Loyola opened the half with a 6-2 run, taking a 39-31 advantage early in the second half. ISU struggled to score and hold on to the ball, as LU netted 13-straight points to increase its lead, 52-34, with 10 minutes left to play. The 13-0 run by the Ramblers lasted four minutes, as ISU was 2-of-10 from the field with four turnovers.
After the Ramblers’ offensive attack, the two teams exchanged points, before Winge scored four-straight points to cut Loyola’s lead to 13 points, 59-46, with four minutes remaining in the game. Illinois State continued to work on the offensive side of the ball and cut Loyola’s lead to 11 points, 64-53, using a 7-1 run with 1:06 left on the clock. Despite the late offensive attack, the Redbirds fell to the Ramblers, 67-53.
ISU returns to the court Sunday, as it takes on Bradley at 2:05 p.m., in Peoria, Illinois.
