Redbirds fall to No. 16 Kansas State    

[NOV. 27, 2004]  FREEPORT, Bahamas -- Illinois State didn't have an answer for Kansas State all-American Kendra Wecker and fell 105-61 to the Wildcats on Friday evening. In the process Wecker smashed the record for most points in a Junkanoo Jam game with 41 tallies. The 'Birds fall to 0-2, while No. 16 Kansas State moves to 3-0.

Wecker, who hit eight 3-pointers in the game, outscored the Redbirds 21-5 in the first 4½ minutes of the game. An Erin Keeney 3-pointer at 13:37 stopped a 20-point run by KSU that lasted over four minutes. Wecker scored 17 of the Wildcats' points during that run. No other K-State player broke into the scoring column until the 13:56 mark.

With 3:29 left in the half, the Redbirds went on a 10-1 run that included seven straight points by Katie Donovan. In her first game this season, Keeney sparked the Redbirds off the bench with nine points in the first stanza. Kansas State held a 53-38 lead at the half.

K-State started off the second half much like the first with a 13-0 run that lasted until the 16:35 mark, when Keeney hit a jumper to make the score 66-40. The 'Birds went cold in the second half as they shot just 19 percent from the field, including 11 percent from behind the arc. The Wildcats ran off another 11 unanswered points, starting at the 12:40 mark and ending at 8:16 with a pair of Ashley Sandstead free throws.

Donovan paced the Redbirds with 17 points, five assists and three rebounds. Keeney, with 11, was the only other Redbird in double figures. Sandstead chipped in nine points and five rebounds, while fellow freshman Lashawn Johnson tossed in eight and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Illinois State will take on the loser of the Duke-Stephen F. Austin game on Saturday at 5 p.m. Central time.

[Illinois State University news release]

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