By ISU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE- The Illinois State women’s basketball team saw its comeback against Evansville fall short, 60-56, Sunday in Missouri Valley Conference action Sunday inside Ford Center. The Redbirds trailed by as 19 in the second quarter, before cutting the deficit to two three different times late in the fourth quarter.
The Purple Aces (11-16, 6-10 MVC) scored the first six points of the game, forcing Illinois State (7-21, 4-13 MVC) to quickly call a 30-second timeout. The Redbirds responded with five of the next seven points, as a put-back layup from junior Hannah Green sliced the deficit to 8-5.
Evansville then scored four of the final six points of the opening quarter to lead 16-7. The Purple Aces eventually traveled on a 20-4 run to take their largest lead of the game, 28-9, with 4:50 left before halftime.
Illinois State held Evansville scoreless over the final 3:31 of the second quarter and tallied eight of the final 10 points of the stanza to enter halftime trailing 30-17.
Cold shooting doomed the Redbirds in the first half, as they shot 7-of-30 (23.3 percent), while the Purple Aces made 50 percent (13-of-26) of their attempts, including 4-of-10 from distance. Illinois State, meanwhile, was just 1-of-7 from downtown.
Both sides went back-and-fourth in the third quarter, but the Redbirds improved their shooting in the period and shot 43.8 percent (7-of-16) while holding Evansville to 29.4 percent (5-of-17). A bucket from senior Brechelle Beachum with 49 seconds left put Illinois State down 42-32 entering the final 10 minutes.
Still trailing by 10 with 4:42 remaining, freshman Frannie Corrigan scored on a layup, which started a 7-0 spurt, as a triple from senior Taylor Stewart brought the Redbirds to within 48-45 at the 2:55 mark. Stewart then converted an old-fashion three-point play, capping a 10-2 run, and cutting the deficit to 50-48 with 2:13 remaining.
Sophomore Viria Livingston picked the Purple Aces’ pocket on the next possession to give Illinois State a chance to tie or take the lead. Stewart had a good look at a trifecta, but she missed with 1:37 to go.
After falling down by six, the Redbirds rallied one more time and climbed back to within two with 10 seconds left on a Beachum floater, but Evansville, who made 10-of-12 from the free throw line over the final 78 seconds, knocked down two more to seal the victory.
Illinois State was better in the second half (45.7 percent, 16-of-35) from the field to finish the contest at 35.4 percent (23-of-65), but the Redbirds struggled again from behind the arc, connecting on only 2-of-14. The Purple Aces cooled off to finish at 42.3 percent (22-of-52) and were 4-of-16 from three-point range.
Despite being outrebounded, 37-35, Illinois State won the offensive glass, 15-10, which led to a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points. The Redbirds also forced 13 turnovers, which they converted into 15 points. However, Illinois State gave the ball up 19 times for the second-consecutive contest.
Sophomore Katrina Beck led the Redbirds with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and a 5-of-6 effort at the free throw line. She also had four rebounds and a game-high three steals. Stewart added 14 points, while Green chipped in eight points, a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high three blocks off the bench.
“We dug ourselves into big of a hole today and could not put enough shots in the basket,” head coach Barb Smith said. “I thought we did some good things defensively down the stretch. After halftime, we were more aggressive on both ends of the court, which helped us get back in the game.”
Evansville had four players score in double figures, with Sara Dickey leading the way with 15 points and five rebounds. Camary Williams added a double-double of 12 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and three steals, while Kerri Gasper chipped in 11 points and Brooke Dossett with 10 points and a game-high five assists. Sasha Robinson stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Illinois State returns to action Saturday, March 4, when they conclude the regular season at Bradley, with tipoff slated for 2 p.m. inside Rennisance Coliseum in Peoria, Illinois. The Redbirds will also be the No. 9 seed in the conference tournament and will play in the first game of the event Thursday, March 9, at 4 p.m. inside the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois.
