University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
Panthers Come Up Short at Illinois State, 69-66
2/28/2010 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2010
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NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team came out on the short end of a closely-contested game at Illinois State, falling 69-66 to the Redbirds in Missouri Valley Conference action Sunday afternoon in Redbird Arena.
Erin Brocka notched career highs in both points and rebounds, with 21 and 15. Lizzie Boeck recorded her first double-double of the season, scoring 21 to go with 10 rebounds. Jacqui Kalin finished with 14 points and six assists for UNI (13-14, 9-7 MVC).
Alexis Jenkins scored a career-high 21 points to lead ISU (22-5, 15-1 MVC). Maggie Krick finished with 16 points and Nicolle Lewis tallied 13 points.
Brocka made a layup at 15:30 to give UNI a 5-4 lead. The Redbirds scored the next 10 points, holding UNI scoreless for 4:30, to take a 14-5 lead.
Lizzie Boeck ended the UNI scoring drought with a three-point play at 10:34, bringing the score to 14-8. She hit a pair of free throws just over a minute later, and at 8:43 she drained a three to cap an 8-0 Panther run and pull the Panthers within a point, 14-13.
Alexis Jenkins converted a three-point play, and Boeck and Maggie Krick traded short jumpers to keep the difference at four.
Trailing 21-17, Brocka made a pair of free throws and Boeck hit a jumper to tie the game, 21-21 at 5:30.
Illinois State scored the game's next four points, but Jacqui Kalin hit a three from the right wing to pull UNI within a point, 25-24 with 3:32 on the clock.
The Redbirds responded with a baseline jumper from Bracey and a three in transition from Krick to extend its lead to 30-24 at 2:26.
A layup from Nicole Clausen and a turnaround jumper from Boeck pulled UNI back within two points, but ISU scored the final four points of the half to take a 34-28 lead into the break.
The Panthers made eight of their first 11 attempts in the second half, including threes from Brocka, Clausen and two from Kalin, to take a 49-36 lead with 13:51 to play.
Jenkins hit a three from the top of the key at 13:32 to end a 13-0 run by the Panthers, and a putback from Lewis and a jumper from Krick cut UNI's lead to 49-43 with 12:05 on the clock.
Trailing 55-47, Illinois State scored nine straight points, capped by a three from Lewis at the top of the key, to reclaim the lead, 56-55 with 6:15 on the clock.
Kalin answered with a deep three on the ensuing possession, giving UNI a two-point cushion, 58-56.
Krick hit a deep two as the shot clock was winding down to tie the game, 56-56, but Kalin answered with a long two on the left baseline to put the Panthers back in front by a pair.
Shala Jackson connected on a layup as she was fouled on a fast break. She made the free throw to give ISU a 61-60 lead with 1:58 on the clock.
The Panthers came up empty-handed on their next trip down, and Jenkins hit a three with 1:10 on the clock to stretch ISU's lead to four, 64-60.
The Panthers committed a turnover on their next possession, and Jenkins got a layup to fall to put ISU in front, 66-60 with 25 seconds on the clock.
Boeck hit a three with 15.8 seconds remaining to cut the Panther deficit in half, 66-63.
UNI came up with a steal on the inbounds pass but could not hold onto it. The Panthers sent Jenkins to the free-throw line, and she made the first but missed the second to give ISU a 67-63 lead.
Armstrong hit a three from the right baseline with 3.3 seconds on the clock to pull the Panthers within one, 67-66.
ISU was able to get the ball into Lewis, and UNI sent her to the free-throw line with 2.1 seconds on the clock. She made both attempts to give ISU a 69-66 advantage. Boeck was fouled with .8 seconds left, but UNI was not in the bonus yet. The Panthers inbounded the ball and got off a desperation shot, but it fell short to seal the win for the Redbirds.
UNI shot 25-of-61 (41.0 percent) from the floor, including 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers shot 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Redbirds were 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) from the floor, including 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from three-point range. ISU was 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Panthers held a 39-27 rebounding advantage. UNI turned 15 offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points, while ISU scored six second-chance points on seven offensive rebounds.
UNI committed 15 turnovers, resulting in 20 points for ISU. The Panthers turned the Redbirds' 10 turnovers into 12 points.
The Panthers return to action on Thursday when they host Missouri State at 7:05 p.m. in the McLeod Center.
