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February 18, 2007 SYCAMORES GO INSIDE FOR KEY VALLEY VICTORY AT ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State senior Rachel Maenpaa posted her third career double-double and junior Laura Rudolphi notched a double-dime as well as the Sycamores visited Redbird Arena and came away with a key 76-66 Missouri Valley Conference victory. ISU improved to 15-10, 8-6 MVC while the ‘Birds fall to 17-8, 10-4 MVC. Maenpaa scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds as she hit 9-of-13 shots from the field and was 4-of-5 at the free throw line. She added two assists and a pair of blocked shots in posted her third career double-double and her second in as many games. Rudolphi battled some foul trouble to score 13 points and pull down a career-best 12 caroms in the game. The program’s all-time leading shot blocker, Rudolphi notched one more in 29 minutes of action. It was all needed against the Illinois State duo of point guard Kristi Cirone, who hit four 3-pointers to lead the ‘Birds with 24 points while Nicolle Lewis hit nine free throws to score 19 points. The Redbirds held an 18-16 lead with 9:29 left in the first half when Lewis connected on a pair of free throws. Indiana State heated up from long range behind the stroke of junior guard Angela Phillips who drained a 3-pointer from the left wing for the 19-18 lead on the next possession. Sophomore Kara Schilli added a jumper with 7:10 to go to make it 21-18, but Cirone answered with a triple to tie the score at 21. ISU spurted out to a 26-21 lead on a free throw by Maria Olsthoorn with 4:54 left, before the ‘Birds trimmed the Sycamore advantage back down to 27-25 on another Cirone jumper. The Sycamores extended the lead out to 35-27 on a jumper with a Rudolphi jumper at the 24 second mark, before Illinois State’ Lori Trumblee connected on a short corner jumper to send ISU to the locker room with a 35-29 lead. The Redbirds continued to scratch and claw at the Sycamore lead early in the second half as a 3-pointer by Megan McCracken cut the advantage down to 37-36 with 17:56 left in the game. Leah Phillips answered with a triple of her to stretch the lead back up to 40-36 on the next possession. The lead hit 42-37 a moment later on a lay-up by Rudolphi before four points by Lewis and 3-point play by Cirone sandwiched around a Maenpaa jump shot tied the game with 44 with just over 13 minutes showing on the clock. The Sycamore freshman Kelsey Luna got into the act with a jumper of her own to make it 46-44 Sycamores, before Lewis tied the game at 46 with a pair of free throws. Illinois State regained the lead after a Sycamore turnover when Cirone buried a 3-pointeer in transition to give the ‘Birds a 49-46 lead with 11:41 left. After the Redbird lead hit 51-47 with just over 10 minutes left, Rudolphi connected on a pair of free throws, Cirone drilled a free throw and then Luna stroked a 3-pointer to tie the score at 52 with just under nine minutes remaining. Lewis hit two more charity tosses to make the score 54-52, and then after a missed 3-pointer, Cirone took the ball and missed a fast break lay-up. It was key because Angela Phillips took the ball from Rudolphi off the rebound and went the length of the court to tie the game at 54. ISU stretched the lead back out to 61-55 with 5:18 left on three consecutive scores inside by Sycamore post players. Luna drilled a 3-pointer after a Lashawn Johnson missed lay-up to make the score 64-55 and five the Sycamores a nine-point advantage with just over four minutes left. After the ‘Birds trimmed the lead to seven points, Luna went right back at it with yet another triple to give ISU a huge 67-57 lead with four minutes remaining. The Sycamore lead was cut down to six points four times over the final four minutes but ISU was efficient at the free throw line, as Angela Phillips hit four free throws and Maenpaa connected on three to seal the victory. Luna finished the game with 13 points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers while Angela Phillips posted 11, pulled down four rebounds and dished out five assists. ISU out-rebounded the Redbirds by a 44-40 margin, marking the third consecutive game in which they have pulled down more caroms than their opponents as well as the third consecutive game in which they have reached the 40 rebound margin. Indiana State hit 49% of their shots from the field, including an efficient 5-of-10 from 3-point range while holding Illinois State to just 30% shooting in the game, including a mark of 26.5% in the second half. ISU won the battle in the paint, out-scoring the ‘Birds by a 30-16 margin, while the Sycamore bench was also huge, holding a 14-6 advantage. Now tied with Evansville and Northern Iowa in the loss column with six defeats each in the Missouri Valley Conference race for third place, this coming weekend will be pivotal if the Sycamores are to capture a top seed for the upcoming State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. ISU hosts UNI on Friday, February 23 beginning at 7:05 p.m., and then will host Bradley on Sunday, February 25 at 2:05 p.m. All tickets to the Bradley game are available at the Hulman Center Box Office now for just $1.
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