Dec. 15, 2008

Box Score in PDF Format

Final Stats

Junior guard Kyle York scored a season-high 16 points on four three-pointers, but the Northern Illinois women's basketball team (3-6) was defeated by 2008 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament champions Illinois State (6-3), 89-67, at the Convocation Center Monday night.

The Redbirds were led by two-time MVC Player of the Year Kristi Cirone, who poured in a game-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. She was joined in double-figures by Maggie Krick (18) and Shala Jackson (15). NIU's Jessie Wilcox chipped in 10 points.

ISU held statistical advantages in field goals (33-27), free throws (17-12) and assists (11-7), while out-shooting the Huskies from the field, 55.9 percent to 31.2 percent.

"I was very disappointed in the way we started the game," said head coach Carol Owens. "We weren't ready to play and got ourselves into a hole that was difficult to dig out. Illinois State is a really good team, and they showed why they won the Missouri Valley Conference. They are a great road team.

"We had a difficult time with (Kristi) Cirone. She is a very good point guard, and we couldn't slow her down (tonight)."

The Redbirds jumped out of the gate early, grabbing a convincing 20-3 lead just over seven minutes into the game. Five Redbirds had field goals in the spurt to jumpstart the run. The Redbird lead eclipsed 20 points, 33-12, after a three by Cirone with 7:11 remaining.

The Huskies went on a 5:40 scoring draught, and fell behind by 29 points, 41-12, after Cirone's fifth field goal. NIU finished the frame on a 14-9 run, and pulled with 50-26 heading into the locker room at halftime.

NIU charged back in the opening five minutes of the second-half, pulling back with 15 points (57-42), with 14:39 remaining. Aileen Rossouw had back-to-back field goals in the spurt. But the Redbirds answered with a 12-2 flurry, and extended their lead back to 69-44, at the 12:05 mark. The Huskies could draw no closer than 22 points for the remainder of the game, eventually falling behind by a game-high 30 points.

NIU will travel to DePaul on Thursday (Dec. 17) before hosting in-state rival Illinois-Chicago on Saturday as part of a men's and women's doubleheader.