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As soon as the ball was tipped off in the ISU-Drake Women’s Basketball MVC matchup Friday night, it was very apparent that defense was what was going to determine the outcome of the game. After dropping two of their last three games (all on the road) Illinois State (8-8, 3-2) needed to get some energy from their home crowd to get their offense going early against Drake (9-7, 32). The first five minutes of the game was very low-scoring, much in part to both ISU’s Marley Hall and Drake’s Rachel Hackbarth. Both of these defensive minded teams kept the opposing team’s offenses from really producing. It wasn’t until MVC newcomer of the week Jamie Russell started dictating play that the lady redbirds really started to begin playing well together. A strong offensive player, Russell had 4 rebounds in the first 9 minutes allowing for the offense to try and put more points up on the board for Illinois State.
Drake’s defense was no pushover though, keeping the score low for much of the first half. The biggest lead ISU had up until the final five minutes was 4 points, and even that gap was quickly closed as Drake pulled ahead 22-21 with two minutes left in the first half. From that point on however, it was all Illinois State. The redbirds drew energy from the crowd as their offense really got clicking to go on a 9-0 run to go into the half.
Coming out of the half, it would seem the Redbirds would continue their streak, feeding off the energy of the home crowd, but it was Drake that really capitalized in the opening moments of the second half. In the first five minutes the Bulldogs were able to narrow down the ISU lead to three, making the score 37-34. It was at this point that the stingy Redbird defense seen in the first half came out picking up plenty of rebounds to keep ahead of Drake’s offense. Despite giving up four turnovers in the first seven minutes of second half play, tough play from Candace Sykes in the next five minutes really pushed ISU forward. Despite getting fouled in three point territory Sykes was able to complete her shot and knock down the free throw completing the four point play. After Drake took the ball down court and completed a layup, Sykes knocked down another three to increase the Redbirds lead.
But Drake just would not go away. Kyndal Clark started to step up for the Bulldogs by hitting back to back three point shots, as they pulled ahead by two with seven minutes left, the score being 47-45. These two teams were very evenly matched going into the final five minutes, every time one side would score, the other would respond with a basket themselves. With just under two minutes of play left Marley Hall stepped up once again putting up an easy layup to tie the score at 60-60. The score stayed the same up until the final eight seconds of play when Drake got possession of the ball due to an offensive foul from Illinois State. Narrowly avoiding a five second violation, Drake took a timeout much in part to the strong Redbird press. After the timeout Drake inbounded the ball, drove to the opposite side of the court where ISU stuffed a shot knocking the ball out of bounds. With 2.8 seconds left on the clock Drake imbounded the ball to Rachael Hackberth who missed the layup, sending the game into a five minute overtime.
Even though Rachael Hackberth missed that final shot for Drake, she made up for it to start overtime by putting in a layup. Drake quickly pulled ahead to 66-61. ISU would not let them get away with the game that easily thanks in part to that defense that had done so well earlier in the game. They pulled within three with 1:30 seconds left, kept Drake from scoring, and with just 46 seconds left Katie Broadway hit a 3-point shot, tying the game at 67-67. This got the crowd up on their feet cheering into the final seconds of the game. After missed shots from both teams, Drake found themselves inbounding the ball with 8.9 seconds left. A quick steal by Katie Broadway, a drive to the hoop, and a foul from Drake left 1.9 seconds on the clock and Broadway at the free throw line. She downed both shots giving the Redbirds a two point lead. After missing the inbound pass by Drake, the game was all but over and they were forced to foul Candace Sykes. She sunk both free throws securing the Redbird victory at 71-67.
Illinois State will look to carry momentum from this home win into their next game in Doug Collins Arena, Sunday at 2:05pm versus MVC foe Creighton.
Redbird Basketball is back!
WZND is ready for all Illinois State athletics, but be sure to tune in to the Red Zone every Thursday night at 6:30 for the latest sports updates. WZND will bring you live coverage of every home Redbird Men’s and Women’s Basketball game during the 2011-2012 season.
Thanks to Avanti’s Restaurant for its’ sponsorship of Redbird basketball, and also to our listeners for tuning in to all the great moments from ISU football and basketball, only on WZND – the Pulse of Redbird Nation!
NORMAL– The much-anticipated match up with the basketball rival Bradley Braves brought Illinois State fans out of the woodwork tonight at the Doug Collins Redbird Arena. Students, families and local fans alike celebrated the first three-point basket made by Jon Wilkins by throwing red and white confetti in the air.
The Redbirds kept Bradley under 20 points in the first half of the game and finished with a final of 78-48, locking down a six-game winning streak against the Braves.
Junior forward Jackie Carmichael had 495 rebounds going into the match up and finished with eight more, putting him at 503 rebounds at the end of the game. Carmichael is the 31st player in Illinois State history to hit the 500-rebound mark and is one of only five Redbirds to collect 800 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots in a career.
The Redbirds consistent offense was the key to their success. Junior guard Tyler Brown finished with 21 points, guards Wilkins and Bryant Allen finished with 10 and 11 points respectively. The Redbirds focused on their passing game and took opportunities to create lanes to render their wide lead.
ISU will take on Drake for their next game on Wednesday, February 8th at the Doug Collins Redbird Arena.
NOMAL– The Illinois State Redbirds avenged their 67-53 January 6th loss against the Indiana Stat Sycamores Friday night. They beat the Sycamores 78 to 67 behind leading scorer Katie Broadway who received an award for her 1000th career point. Broadway led the way for the Redbirds scoring 18 of her 26 points in the first half.
Early on the game was tightly contested, with both teams forcing a lot of turnovers. Broadway and Sycamore guard Brittnay Scheon went shot for shot carrying both teams’ offenses throughout the first half. Scheon nearly matched Broadway’s performance with 15 points of her own in the first half.
For the beginning of the second half, it started out just like the first, with teams trading basket for basket. Jamie Russell left the game early in the second half with an apparent arm injury. After she returned to the game she sparked the Redbird offense scoring 15 of her 17 points in the second half.
As close as Indiana State got, they were never able to get over that hump to tie or take the lead. 23 turnovers were part of the problem and that led to 26 points off turnovers for the Redbirds.
The Redbirds have now won four of their last five conference games and now move into a tie for second place in the valley. Meanwhile Indiana State has lost six in a row in Valley play. Illinois State Redbirds will face fellow second seeded Northern Iowa next Friday at home.
–Kevin Madeira
Normal–The official start of the 2012 football season started today with National Signing Day for the Illinois State Redbirds. The Redbirds got signatures from ten players from California all the way to Florida and in between. Seven of the new recruits are from the Chicago land area. These ten recruits add to the six college transfers that were introduced on January 17th. The depleted offense line was the Redbirds key focus in this years recruiting class. Six of the ten new recruits will help fill up the depth on the offensive line. Coach Brock Spack said, “I think we upgraded our front, which is obviously an area we needed to work on after we got hit hard there with graduation.” 6’5’’, 315 pound Kyle Avaloy from Glenbard South High School was a three year varsity starter who did not allow a sack in all three years. Sam Campbell a 6’2’’, 310 pound offensive lineman transferred as a junior from Glendale (California) Community College. Campbell was a two year starter and was a unanimous All Western State Conference First Team selection after his sophomore year. Offensive linemen were not the only players the Redbirds were looking for. Coach Spack said, “We didn’t take a lot of defensive players in this class, but we got quick guys at safety and cornerback. They can run and accelerate, they can get off blocks and make plays, and that’s what we’re looking for.” Andre Allen from Bolingbrook High school is a 6’2’’, 190 pound linebacker who was named Most Valuable Player for his state championship team in 2011. Another player that should be very familiar to Coach Spack is his son Brent Spack. A 6 foot, 205 pound linebacker was a three year varsity starter at Normal Community High School. Spack was named to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 6A All State team. The lone offensive play maker is 5’11’’, 185 pound quarterback Blake Winkler from Lincoln Way East High School. Winkler was named the Gatorade Illinois Football Player of the Year by ESPNHS. This sign will give the Redbirds five quarterbacks on the depth chart heading into the season. Coach Spack was very pleased with the new recruits coming to play for the Redbirds in the fall. “It’s a very good class there’s high quality everywhere. We believe that they can all come in here, compete and practice well, and be very good students” Spack said. The Redbirds begin their spring workouts on March 27th. The team will have 15 practices ending with the annual Red- White spring game that is scheduled for April 28th at Hancock Stadium.
NORMAL–One of the great all-time Redbirds reached another milestone early in the game. Forward Jackie Carmichael put in a bucket with time expiring on the shot clock early in the first half for his 800th career point as a Redbird. He followed that up a couple minutes later with an alley-oop feed from Nic Moore that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The Redbirds played an overall consistent game and took down their in-state conference rival by a score of 60-40.
Carmichael helped pace the Redbirds by scoring the first seven points while the Salukis looked for an answer to defend him. Carmichael blocked a shot by Kendal Brown-Surles about 7 minutes into the first half in spectacular fashion.
While the Salukis looked to stop Carmichael, the Redbirds looked for a way to stop Senegal-native Mamadou Seck. Seck leads Southern Illinois in all three major scoring categories this season.
The score remained close throughout the entire first half until close to 6 minutes left in the half when the Redbirds went on a 7-0 run to increase their lead over their in-state rival. The Redbirds took a 26-17 lead into the half after an impressive half by Jackie Carmichael.
The Redbirds opened up the second half with a breakaway dunk by John Wilkins that got the crowd going once again. Nic Moore followed that up a few minutes later with a three-pointer that gave the Redbirds what was their largest lead of the day with a 15-point lead.
The Salukis struggled in the second half to create their own shots as the Redbirds continually played suffocating defense. On the other end the Redbirds managed to get good penetration against the Southern Illinois defense as well as create their own shots.
Throughout the second half the scoring went back and forth as the Redbirds held a commanding lead over the Salukis. Southern Illinois simply had no answer to combat the Redbirds high-powered offense. Carmichael and Wilkins were key players as they led in points and rebounds, respectively. Jackie Carmichael capped off the victory with another alley-oop off of an in-bounds pass from Bryant Allen with five minutes left. With the win the Redbirds move into third place in a key Missouri Valley Conference matchup.
Mike O’Brien and Andy Rzeczkowski got a chance to sit down and talk to Chicago Blackhawks great Denis Savard during the ISU-Missouri State game on Wednesday. Here’s what Andy and Mike had to ask for Savy.
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