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NORMAL, Ill.—Reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Kristi Cirone led a pack of three Illinois State Redbird players in double-figures with 18 points on Thursday night, as the Redbirds shot to their 12th win in the last 13 contests with a 75-62 victory over the visiting University of Evansville women’s basketball team at Redbird Arena in Normal, Illinois.
Cirone scored a game-best 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the free throw line, while also dishing out six assists and grabbing six rebounds. Sophomore guard Shala Jackson added a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double and junior guard Maggie Krick pitched in 11 points, as the Redbirds shot 45.0 percent from the floor (27-for-60) and 42.9 percent from three-point range (6-of-14) to remain atop the MVC standings with a 14-4 overall record and 5-1 MVC mark.
Cirone scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half to power the Redbirds to a 42-33 halftime advantage. The Illinois State attack was aided in the first half by a 25-15 advantage in rebounding which led to a 15-4 edge in second-chance points.
Evansville would open the second half on a 7-2 run to trim the ISU lead back to four points, 44-40, as senior guard Ashley Austin would score five of her eight points on the night to fuel the run. The Redbirds would eventually build the lead back to 10 points before using a 10-0 run midway through the half to grab a 66-46 advantage with 9:31 to play. Reserve guard Ashley Sandstead would anchor the two-minute run with five points for the Redbirds.
The lead would grow to as many as 22 points for the Redbirds, before the Evansville bench made one last push. UE’s bench built a 10-0 run of its own in the span of two minutes, led by three-pointers by senior Kate Batey and freshman Chelsea Falkenstein, to cut the ISU lead back to 72-60 with 2:22 to play. That would be as close as the Purple Aces would come though.
“I thought that our bench played with great energy and really gave us a lift today,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “Each player that we went too off of the bench gave us a lift today, and Chelsea Falkenstein especially stepped up and left it all on the court. I need to find her more minutes, because she plays hard every time she steps onto the court.
“Unfortunately, in the first half, we didn’t do some of the things that we needed to do, such as box out and hit free throws, and Illinois State was able to grab the lead. You can not play from behind against a team like that, because they are such an explosive offensive team, and Kristi Cirone is such a great player and great leader. Even if she wasn’t scoring tonight, she was setting up her teammates and attacking our defense, and she proved why she was the player of the year in the conference last year.”
Senior center Shannon Novosel led a balanced UE attack, with 14 points and four rebounds. Austin chipped in eight points and senior forward Robyn Jennings added seven points from the starting lineup, and Falkenstein and sophomore Stephanie Bamberger chipped in seven points off of the bench. UE’s bench outscored Illinois State’s reserves 25-20.
With the victory, Illinois State improves to 14-4 overall and 5-1 in the MVC, while Evansville slips to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the Valley. The Purple Aces will hit the road once again on Saturday afternoon, as the Purple Aces will travel to Terre Haute, Indiana to take on league go-leader Indiana State (9-8 overall, 5-1 in the MVC) at 1:00 p.m. central time. Saturday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV, with live video streaming available on GoPurpleAces.com.
