Senior forward Tiff Terwelp notched her ninth double-double of the season with a 23-point, 14-rebound effort, but the Missouri Valley Conference’s top team was too much for the Missouri State Lady Bears Sunday afternoon in Normal, Ill., as Illinois State shot 56 percent from the floor to come away with a 78-66 victory. Junior guard Kristi Cirone totaled 21 points to lead the Redbirds, who improved to 22-3 on the season and 12-2 in the Valley.
Illinois State grabbed control of the lead for good with a 15-0 run over a five minute period spanning the end of the first half and the first two and-a-half minutes of the second half. ISU connected on 63.3 percent of its second-half field goal tries and outscored the Lady Bears by a whopping 48-14 margin in the paint to earn its fourth straight win in the series.
The Redbirds tallied the final eight points of a first half that featured four ties and 10 lead changes to take a 36-31 advantage into the break. After ISU scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 43-31 lead, the Lady Bears used a 12-5 run to draw to within five points on Maggie Dwyer’s lay-in with 12:36 to play.
But the Redbirds answered with a 17-7 run of their own to extend their advantage to 15 points with just over seven minutes to go, effectively ending MSU’s upset bid.
Illinois State’s effort at the end of the first 20 minutes came after the two teams traded punches for most of the period. The Redbirds got 10 points from junior guard Kristi Cirone in the first six minutes of the contest, but led by just two points before MSU scored eight of the next 11 points to take an 18-15 lead at the 11:51 mark.
ISU responded with a 13-2 burst, sparked by six points from sophomore forward Kenyatta Shelton. Missouri State came back with an 11-0 spurt, as Terwelp scored six of her 12 first-half points during the run to give the Lady Bears a 31-28 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the period.
Freshman guard Sha’la Jackson’s bucket with 2:25 to play started ISU’s critical scoring run that turned a three-point deficit into a 43-31 advantage. A pair of Nicolle Lewis free throws gave the Redbirds a 32-31 lead, and Maggie Krick buried a three-pointer with just 20 seconds to go before the half to push the margin to five points.
Cirone finished 7-of-11 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc, while Krick scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Both Shelton and junior forward Ashleen Bracey finished in double figures for ISU as well, totaling 11 and 12 points, respectively.
In addition to Terwelp’s banner day, senior guard Tahnee Balerio also finished in double figures with 13 points, and sophomore guard Roxy Stiles totaled 11 for MSU.
The Lady Bears went 24-of-56 (.429) from the floor and were outscored 19-0 on fast break points.
Missouri State, which dropped to 9-17 overall and 7-8 in conference play, returns home next Sunday (March 2) to take on Wichita State and begin a three-game home stretch to close the regular season. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m.
