By WJBC Staff
NORMAL – The Illinois State women’s basketball team led visiting Milwaukee, 32-31, at halftime, but the Panthers broke away from a 51-51 tie in the fourth quarter with 13 unanswered points to escape Redbird Arena with a 68-60 victory Wednesday night.
Junior Hannah Green returned to the lineup after missing time due to injury and finished with 12 points, team highs of five rebounds and three steals and a season-high seven blocks, the second-highest single-game total in school history. Senior Taylor Stewart and sophomore Katrina Beck each tallied 14 points and four boards for Illinois State, while senior Brechelle Beachum also finished in double figures with 11 points for the Redbirds to go along with a career-high five assists.
Milwaukee jumped out to a 10-4 lead just over two minutes into the game, before a layup by Beck and a jumper by Green cut the deficit to two points two minutes later. Milwaukee would take back the momentum briefly and widened their lead to 15-10, before back to back layups from freshman Frannie Corrigan and Stewart trimmed the Panthers’ lead to one at 15-14. A jumper by Alexis Lindstrom gave Milwaukee a three-point lead, but freshman Megan Talbot trimmed the lead back to one at 17-16 with a jumper with just eight seconds left in the opening 10 minutes.
A jumper by Green 10 seconds into the second quarter gave the Redbirds their first lead of the game at 18-17, before two free throws by Jenny Lindner gave Milwaukee the lead right back at 19-18 just a minute later. The two squads traded the lead, with the Redbirds regaining the lead, 22-21, after a pair of free throws from Green. A Beck layup then increased the lead to three at 24-21 with 5:09 remaining before halftime. Five-straight points by the Panthers put them back in front, 26-24, before Stewart connected on her first three-pointer of the game to once again give the Redbirds the advantage at 27-26.
A Milwaukee three-pointer continued the back-and-forth trading of the lead in the second quarter, with the Panthers going back in front, 29-27, before Stewart nailed another trey to give ISU a one-point advantage at 30-29 with 2:10 left on the clock. Stewart would then connect on a pair of free throws with under a minute to play to make the score 32-29, before the Panthers added a bucket with 31 seconds left to trim the ISU lead to just one point at halftime, 32-31.
At the start of the third quarter, the Panthers jumped out with a 7-0 spurt to take a 38-32 lead, before Beck converted a layup to get the Redbirds on the scoreboard and cut the lead to four points at 38-34 with 6:33 left in the stanza. The lead stayed at eight points at 46-38 with just under three minutes remaining, until back-to-back baskets by Beachum and a jumper from freshman Morgan VanHyfte trimmed the deficit to three at 47-44 with 1:09 left in the quarter.
The deficit for the Redbirds remained at three points heading into the final quarter of play, before the Panthers scored the first points of the fourth to extend their advantage to five points at 51-46. However, five straight-points on a pair of free throws by Beck and a three-pointer from Talbot tied the game at 51-51 with 8:28 left to play. The momentum then swung dramatically, as the Panthers went on a 13-0 run to take a 64-51 lead with 2:31 to play, before the visitors held off the Redbirds for a 68-60 win.
Illinois State shot a season-high 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field but converted only 4-of-16 from downtown. The defense held Milwaukee to 13 points under its season average and 36.7 percent shooting (22-of-60), including 5-of-18 from behind the arc.
The biggest differences in the contest were turnovers, free-throw shooting and offensive rebounds. The Panthers forced the Redbirds into 25 turnovers (recording 12 steals) and only committed 16, which led to a 25-12 advantage in points off turnovers. Milwaukee also outscored Illinois State by nine at the free throw line. The Panthers made 19-of-24, with 16-of-18 coming in the decisive second half, while the Redbirds only went to the charity stripe 12 times, swishing 10. Milwaukee narrowly edged Illinois State on the glass, 36-34, but the Panthers held a 17-10 lead on the offensive glass, which led to a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Lindstrom led Milwaukee with 14 points and two steals, while Steph Kostowicz added a double-double of 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Linder and Lizzie Odegard chipped in 12 and 10 points and four rebounds each, respectively, and Sierra Ford-Washington stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds and game highs of six assists and four steals.
The Redbirds return to action Sunday, Dec. 11, when they host George Mason at Redbird Arena, with tipoff slated for 1 p.m.
