Illinois State, Indiana State and Wichita State were winners in non-conference women's basketball Thursday night.  The Redbirds improved to 5-1 on the season after topping Loyola-Chicago at home.

Illinois State 82, Loyola Chicago 61
Career-best scoring performances by both Ashleen Bracey and Brea Banks catapulted the Illinois State women’s basketball team to an 82-51 non-conference victory over Loyola-Chicago Thursday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.  The win improved ISU’s record to 5-1 on the season, the best start by the Redbirds in the Robin Pingeton-era.

Bracey posted her first-career double-double with a career-best 16 points and a season-high 10 boards.  Banks surpassed her career-high in the first half, and finished with 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field.

The Redbirds led from the opening basket by Maggie Krick three seconds into the game.  Loyola (1-5) was within a point at 8-7, at the 13:50 mark, but ISU used a 14-2 run, including six points by Bracey, to build a 28-13 advantage.  The Redbirds pushed the lead to as many as 18 points in the first half and led 38-22 at the break.

To open the second half, the Redbirds used a 19-2 run to take a 57-26 advantage at the 13:51 mark.  The first seven ISU points were scored by Krick, who finished the game with 14 points, including a 2-for-3 night on three-pointers.   The Ramblers cut the lead to 23 points at the 11:55 mark, but another 8-0 run by the Redbirds pushed the lead back to 67-36, with 10:03 on the clock.

ISU’s top season scorer Kristi Cirone was held to just five points, on 1-for-8 shooting, but she elevated the play of her teammates with a season-best 11 assists.  Freshman Amanda Clifton came off the bench to add career-highs in points (6) and assists (3).  Illinois State improved to 5-0 all-time against Loyola-Chicago, and the 31-point margin of victory was the highest in the series since the 108-42 win March 2, 1978. 

Loyola’s Jessica Hylton and Elyse VanBogaert were the only Ramblers in double-figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Indiana State 85, Eastern Illinois 76
Indiana State needed an offensive jumpstart after trailing 33-30 at the half on the road against Eastern Illinois, and used Angela Phillips’ 33 points (21 of which were scored after halftime) for just that in coming from behind to down the Panthers, 85-76, at Lantz Arena.

Indiana State improved to 4-1 on the season while Eastern Illinois fell to 0-7. The Sycamores have won six consecutive meetings against the Panthers.

Philiips’ filled the stat sheet en route to her career-best 33 points. She hit 5-of-8 3-pointers and connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field. She proved to be pivotal down the stretch as well, as she went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the game. Phillips added five assists and a pair of steals as well as rebounds to the winning effort.

The Sycamores found themselves down by as many as six points in the game, and trailed by four points, 44-40 with just over 12 minutes left to play. On the strength of back-to-back triple by Angela Phillips, the Sycamores took a 46-40 that they would not relinquish. ISU finished off a 17-2 run to lead 57-46 with 9:52 left in the game.

Eastern Illinois did hit some shots down the stretch to cut the advantage down to as little as six points, but the Sycamores hit their free tosses down the stretch to walk away with its first road victory of the season.

ISU knocked down 27-of-36 attempts at the free throw line while Eastern Illinois was only able to convert 14 of the charity opportunities. Eastern Illinois won the rebounding war, 39-32.

Three different Sycamores reached double figures scoring for the third time this season as Leah Phillips broke out of an early season slump to score 16 points. She hit 3-of-9 attempts from long range as well as five free throws. Laura Rudolphi added 10 points in the effort.

Jessica Huffman scored 20 points to lead Eastern Illinois. The Panthers enjoyed a 36-18 advantage in the paint as well as a 15-4 lead in second chance points.

Wichita State 61, Nicholls State 51
Wichita State (2-4) drained eight 3-pointers as part of a solid offensive outing as the Wichita State women's basketball team marched past Nicholls State (1-5), 61-51, Thursday night in Charles Koch Arena.

Kiki Stephens led the Shocker scoring attack with a season-high 19 points, while Marcy Sudbeck grabbed nine boards to lead all WSU rebounders. Taylor Steven scored nine points and had a game-high five assists, while senior Kyrie Kinder added 10 points on the night. Katherine Plummer led Nicholls State with 13 points in the game.

The teams traded baskets through the first eight minutes of the game before a Steven three gave the Shockers an early three-point point lead. After a Nicholls State free throw, Alex Bunton extended the WSU lead to four, 16-12, with 10:33 left before Jennifer DeGarmo gave the Shockers a five point lead, 21-16, with a three pointer at the 6:42 mark and ignited a 11-0 run to extend the lead to 29-16 with under four minutes left in the half.

The Lady Colonels answered with a 5-0 streak of their own to pull within eight with just over 1:30 to play in the first, but the Shockers answered back with a 3-pointer from Jacie Hoyt and a layup by Samantha Smith to take a 34-23 lead into the halftime break.

WSU shot 45 percent in the first frame, while limiting Nicholls to 37 percent shooting, and just a 2-for-7 clip from 3-point range.

Nicholls State opened the second half on a quick 3-0 spurt before Steven took control for the Shockers. The senior forced an NSU turnover which resulted in a Kiki Stephens layup, then hit a 3-pointer from the right corner as part of a 7-3 run that extended the Shocker lead to 14 at 44-30.

Kinder gave Wichita State its largest lead of the night at the 5:10 mark when she drained a 3-pointer to give the Shockers a 61-41 advantage, but the Colonels answered right back with a 10-0 run of their own to close out the game by narrowing the margin to 10.

Wichita State shot 46.2 percent from the floor, and hit 57.1 percent of its shots from beyond the arc, while limiting the Colonels to a 30.5 percent shooting effort overall. The Shockers out-rebounded Nicholls State 45-30, and posted 17 assists on 24 baskets.

UTSA 63, Missouri State 59
Despite holding UTSA to just 30 percent shooting from the field, the Missouri State Lady Bears’ bid to earn their first victory of the 2007-08 season fell short Thursday evening in Springfield. The Roadrunners converted 21-of-25 free-throw attempts, including 16-of-20 in the second half, to outlast Missouri State, 63-59, in women’s college basketball action at Hammons Student Center.

Freshman guard Jordan Stark notched her first career double-double with a 14-point, 13-rebound effort and knocked down four foul shots in the final minute of play to help give the Roadrunners their sixth victory in as many games this season.

UTSA took the lead for good late in a back-and-forth first half that featured seven lead changes. Junior guard Tiffany Coppage provided an early spark off the Lady Bear bench, as her three three-pointers sparked a 13-2 scoring run that gave Missouri State an 18-12 lead at the 8:59 mark.

But UTSA outscored MSU 15-6 over the final 5:44 to take a 31-28 advantage into the break. Stark connected on back-to-back three-point attempts with under one minute to go in the period, and Amanda Foster totaled 11 points in the half to lead all scorers.

The Lady Bears kept the game close throughout despite struggling to find an offensive rhythm. MSU shot just .364 (24-of-66) from the field, including a 4-of-19 (.211) performance from beyond the arc, but trailed by no more than six points until a critical intentional foul call late in the game turned the momentum in UTSA’s favor for good. The Roadrunners led 48-44 with just under six minutes to play when UTSA’s Terrie Davis converted a breakaway layup and senior guard Tahnee Balerio was whistled for an intentional foul. Davis sank both free throws to double the Roadrunners’ advantage.

Missouri State would draw to within four points at the 2:49 mark on a pair of Balerio free throws, before Davis answered with two successful tries from the charity stripe. Freshman guard Jasmyne Watson came right back with a layup for the Lady Bears, and two more Balerio foul shots pulled the home team to within 56-54 with just 1:22 left in the contest.

Another freshman answered with a clutch shot for UTSA, as Whitney York hit a 12-foot jumper in the lane with 57-seconds to go. After a Missouri State miss, Stark hit a pair of free throws with 0:33 to play, before Watson tallied the last of her career-high 13 points on a three-pointer. But MSU would get no closer, as another 2-for-2 trip to the foul line by Stark with just 0:12 left closed out the win for the Roadrunners.

The Roadrunners were led by Foster’s 15 points, and junior guard Monica Gibbs matched her career high with 14 rebounds. Davis also finished in double figures for UTSA with 12 points.

Missouri State got a game-high 17 points from Balerio, who shot 5-of-10 from the field. Senior forward Tiff Terwelp led the Lady Bears with 10 boards, her second double-digit rebounding effort in the last three games.  

With the loss, the Lady Bears dropped to 0-5 for just the second time in the history of the program, matching the start of MSU’s 1975-76 squad.