Illinois State won the Best Western Roundball Classic after beating host South Florida 82-57 Sunday afternoon in Tampa, Fla., the host site of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four.  The Redbirds improve to 4-0 on the year while preseason favorite Drake was also victorious on Sunday, downing Weber State at home. 

Illinois State 82, South Florida 57
Senior guard Tiffany Hudson and sophomore guard Maggie Krick both recorded career-highs in points to lead the Redbirds (4-0) past South Florida (2-2), 82-57, for the championship of the Best Western Roundball Classic on Sunday, Nov. 18, in Tampa, Fla. The Redbirds outscored the Bulls by 18 points to close out the first half to take control en route to their biggest margin of victory of the season. The Redbirds are 4-0 for the just the third time in the history of the program (1973-74, 2005-06).

 Krick led the Redbirds with a career-best 27 points on 10-for-13 shooting, including a career-high five three-pointers. It was the most points scored by a Redbird in a game since junior guard Kristi Cirone had 27 against Evansville on Jan. 6, 2007. Krick also had a career-high eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

Hudson netted a career-best 20 points, giving her double-digits in points in four-consecutive games for the first time in her career. She also made four three-pointers in the game. She was named the tournament’s MVP after averaging 19 points in the two games.

Hudson, Krick, Cirone and freshman guard Shala Jackson were all named to the all-tournament team, giving the Redbirds four of the six selections. Cirone had 14 points and a game-high nine assists against USF, while Jackson added seven points. Sophomore forward Ashleen Bracey had a game-high nine rebounds for ISU.

Turnovers were a big factor again for ISU, who forced 20 USF miscues and scored 30 points off them. The ‘Birds also scored 12 points on the fastbreak while holding the Bulls to none. ISU shot better than 50 percent in each half and 53.3 percent (32-60) in the game.

The Redbirds were running right from the opening whistle, jumping out to a 6-3 lead in the first 90 seconds with three fastbreak baskets. A pair of Cirone free throws and back-to-back three-pointers by Hudson and Krick put the Redbirds ahead, 14-5. The Redbirds then went more than five minutes without a field goal, which allowed USF to pull within a basket, 18-16. ISU got back on track with the 24-6 run, highlighted by three-straight three-pointers and four fastbreak buckets, to take its biggest lead of the half, 42-22. South Florida had just two field goals in the final nine minutes of the period.

USF cut the deficit down to 44-29, as forward Jessica Lawson, who finished with a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, scored the first seven points of the second half for the Bulls. The Redbirds answered with a 21-7 run to extend its lead to 65-36. The’Birds lead got as big as 34 points, 80-46, when Jackson made a mid-range jumper at 4:32.

Iowa 77, Northern Iowa 67
 The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team trailed in-state foe Iowa by 14 in the second half but was able to come back and take a one-point lead. The Panthers were unable to hold on for the win, however, falling 77-67 to the Hawkeyes.

            Four different Panthers scored in double figures, led by freshman Jacqui Kalin and sophomore Nicole Clausen who each finished with 14 points. Sophomore Danielle Wubbens scored 12 and freshman Lizzie Boeck added 11. Clausen and Kalin each finished with six rebounds, and Kalin ended the night with seven assists.

            Iowa (3-0) had a hot hand in the first half, shooting 60 percent (17-of-28) from the floor. The Panthers used 6-of-15 shooting from three-point range to keep the Hawkeyes close. After falling behind  33-25, Megan Keefe hit a pair of free throws and Boeck scored off a Kalin assist to pull UNI (2-2) back within four. A layup from Iowa's Kristi Smith put the Hawkeyes back in front by six, but Clausen cut that lead in half with a three at 3:22 that brought the score to 35-32. The teams traded pairs of free throws, and Boeck hit a jump shot off an assist from Traci Ollendieck that made it a one-point game, 39-38 with a minute to play in the half. Iowa rattled off the last five points of the period to take a 44-38 lead into the break.

            Kalin drove to the basket and scored on UNI's first possession of the second half to pull UNI within four, but the Hawkeyes outscored UNI 12-2 over the next six miutes to build a 56-42 lead with just under 14 minutes remaining.

            Clausen hit a jumper in the paint and Erin Brocka knocked down a three on UNI's next trip to bring it back to a single-digit lead, 56-47 with 12:49 on the clock. On UNI's next possession Kalin found Clausen behind the arc on a fast break. Clausen drilled the three, to cut the Panther deficit to 56-50 with 12:26 to play.

            Boeck connected on one of two free throws to trim the Iowa lead to five, but Stacy Schlapkohl scored at the other end to give the Hawkeyes a 61-54 lead.

            Clausen and Kalin each came up with offensive boards on UNI's ensuing possession, and Clausen hit another three to make it a four-point contest. Abby Emmert answered with a three for Iowa, but Ollendieck connected from long range to cut Iowa's lead to 61-57 at the 10-minute mark.

            Schlapkohl and Boeck traded pairs of free throws to keep the difference at four points. Schlapkohl made it a six-point game with another set of free throws at 8:43 that brought the score to 65-59.

            Brocka scored on the Panthers' next trip following an offensive rebound by Wubbens. Brocka grabbed a defense board at the other end, and Clausen connected once again from long range to make it a one-point game, 65-64 with 7:58 on the clock. The three gave the Panthers eight scores over their last nine possessions, allowing them to score 17 points in less than six minutes.

            With 6:30 remaining, Wubbens went to the line and her pair of free throws gave UNI its first lead of the second half, 66-65. The Panther shooting went cold at that point, and Iowa was able to score the game's next six points to build a 71-66 lead with 3:43 on the clock.

            Brocka hit a free throw with 3:30 remaining to pull the Panthers within four, 71-67. The Panthers trailed by four when a steal from Brocka at 1:47 gave the Panthers the chance to pull within one or two points.  UNI came up empty-handed, and Kristi Smith was fouled on the other end. Her free throws put Iowa in front 73-67 with 49 seconds on the clock. UNI couldn't score on its next trip, and elected to foul. The Hawkeyes were 6-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.

            The Panthers shot 37.5 percent (21-of-56) from the floor, including 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) from three-point range. The 11 threes ties the arena mark set by the Panthers against Missouri State on Feb. 17, 2007.  UNI finished 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Iowa was 23-of-45 (51.1 percent) from the floor, including 4-of-10 (40 percent) from long distance. The Hawkeyes were 27-of-31 (87.1 percent) from the free-throw line.

            Iowa held a slim rebounding advantage, 33-32.

Drake 78, Weber State 64
Senior Lindsay Whorton (Independence, Mo./Truman) scored 19 of her career-high 29 points in the second half to lift Drake to a 78-64 victory over Weber State on Sunday (Nov. 18).

The victory propelled the Bulldogs to 2-2 on the campaign, while dropping the Wildcats to 1-2.

Drake trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half before the slumbering giant awoke as the Bulldogs, led by seven points from senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk), went on a 14-0 run over the final 4:47 of the half to take a 34-31 advantage into the intermission.

Weber State finished the first half missing its last six shots, while the Bulldogs connected on their final four.

Drake struggled offensively from the field before the run as the Blue and White kept the tilt close making their offense at the charity stripe, finishing 15-for-20 in the initial stanza. The 20 attempts at the free throw stripe were the second most attempted in any half by the Bulldogs in school history. The record is 20 of 21 by Drake in the second half against Northern Iowa on Feb. 24, 2001 in the Knapp Center.

Weber State made adjustments at the break and came out and netted the first nine points of the second half to take a 40-34 lead with 17:48 remaining.

After missing their first four shots of the final 20 minutes, the Bulldogs quickly regrouped and revitalized their offensive surge proceeding to march on an 18-2 run over the next 7:13 to assume a 52-44 advantage with just over 10 minutes (10:35) remaining in the game.

Fueling the scoring explosion was 11 points from Martin and five from Whorton.

The lead swelled to as many as 18 points before the Bulldogs walked off the court with a 78-64 victory in hand.

Whorton enjoyed her 13th career 20-point contest, while Martin added 15 second-half points to crack the 20-point plateau for the 23rd time in her career.

Weber State outrebounded Drake in the affair, 30-24, but the difference in the contest was turnovers as the Bulldogs converted 24 Wildcat miscues in 32 points. Drake turned the ball over only 10 times.

The Bulldogs finished the game shooting the ball at 52.1 percent, while Weber State tickled the twines at a .551 clip.

Sophomore Kaniesha Agee (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill) distributed a team-high four assists for Drake against only one turnover, while junior Ashleigh Brady (Lubbock, Texas/Frenship) paced the Bulldog attack with three steals.

Sara Toumi’s 17-point effort paced three players finishing in double-figures in scoring for Weber State.

Illinois 63, Southern Illinois 53
 Illinois' Jenna Smith exploded for 32 points and 10 rebounds to lead her team to a 63-53 victory over Southern Illinois in the Salukis first road test of the season Sunday in Assembly Hall.

Southern (1-2) opened the game on a 11 to 5 run before Illinois (3-1) evened the score at 11 with six unanswered points including two straight jumpers by Smith.

SIU's Jayme Sweere tied the game at 13-13 with two of her team-high 15 points before UI went on a 14-0 run for their largest lead of the game, 27-13, with 4:29 left in the first half.

The Illini took a 29-18 lead into the locker room at halftime, 13 of their first half point coming on free throws. SIU sent the home team to the line 16 times in the first half, four Salukis committing two or more fouls.

After the break, Southern fought back within one twice on swapped Sweere and Smith jumpers at 37-36 and 39-38.

First half fouls started to haunt the Salukis in the second half as three of four post players garnered four fouls each, Jasmine Gibson fouling out with under a minute and half to play. The junior forward put up six points and six boards before exiting the ball game.

The Salukis out-scored the Illini from the field 50 to 42, the home team making 21 of 27 free throws.

Ellen Young came off the bench for the Salukis for 13 points, while Erica Smith added 11 points and six boards.

Texas-San Antonio 68, Wichita State 60
The Wichita State women's basketball team (1-1) stormed back from an 11-point halftime deficit to take a late lead but the rally fell short in the end as the Shockers picked up their first loss of the season, 68-60 at UTSA (3-0) Sunday night.

Wichita State was led by Kiki Stephens’ 16 points and eight rebounds. The senior played all but three minutes of the game. Daria Frazier followed with 10 points and Kyrie Kinder and Marcy Sudbeck had five rebounds a piece. 

Whitney York led the Roadrunners with a game-high 22 points, while Monica Gibbs brought down 11 boards.

WSU shot a favorable 42.6 percent compared to UTSA’s 36.8 percent, but the Shockers sent the Roadrunners to the foul line 32 times and UTSA was able to pick up 21 free points.

Beginning at the 12:27 mark of the second half, Wichita State went on a 15-4 run that gave the Shockers their first and only lead. The run was capped when Daria Frazier connected for the third consecutive time with 4:41 left to play. York responded with a quick jumper to regain the lead and the Roadrunners went 5-7 from the line down the stretch to help them to the 68-60 win.

It was a slow start for the Shockers in the first half, sending UTSA to the foul line almost immediately and failing to capitalize on the Roadrunners’ early turnovers. They got on the board with a Jacie Hoyt layup three minutes in and back-to-back jump shots from Stephens cut it to 9-6 at the 12:21 mark.

The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes, until UTSA scored eight unanswered points, pushing it to 28-18 with 3:32 left in the half. The Roadrunners hit two three-pointers down the stretch to head into the locker room with an 11 point lead.