Women's Basketball

Redbirds' Final Road Trip Highlights MVC Wildcard Weekend

[February 29, 2008]  NORMAL -- With only two more weekends remaining in the Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball season, Illinois State (22-3, 12-2 MVC) maintains its hold on the top spot in the standings. The Redbirds face a daunting schedule, as three of their last four opponents are within three games of them in the conference standings. The Redbirds take to the road for the final conference swing this weekend to face Creighton (16-9, 9-5 MVC) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then visit Drake (16-9, 9-5 MVC) on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The Bluejays and Bulldogs are tied for third place in the Valley.

Both games are a part of MVC Wildcard Weekend and can be seen on FSN Midwest, Fox College Sports and Comcast Sportsnet Chicago, with Mitch Holthus and former Redbird head coach Jill Hutchison providing the commentary.

"I like the way that our schedule has played out because I think it is important to be challenged as we head down the stretch towards the conference tournament," said head coach Robin Pingeton. "There isn't a single game we can take lightly. Creighton came here a few weeks ago and beat us, which is always a little tough to swallow, so that will help motivate us a little more. Drake was the preseason pick to win the conference this season, so we figured they would be in this position at this point of the year. I like the way we are playing right now. I think that since we lost those two games to Creighton and Northern Iowa, we have practiced with a lot more intensity and focus, and that is definitely showing up on the court."

The Redbirds-Bluejays series

Creighton leads the all-time series with Illinois State 23-12. The two first met in 1982 and did not play again until 1993, both Redbird wins. Creighton posted a 21-6 record against ISU after that, including a string of eight straight wins. The Redbirds have swept the season series in each of the last two years, but Creighton has won the last two meetings with victories in the MVC tournament last season. The Redbirds will be looking to avenge a 75-71 loss earlier this season, which was their first conference defeat of the year and snapped their 14-game winning streak. Pingeton is 4-6 against Creighton all-time.

The Redbirds-Bulldogs series

Drake leads the all-time series with Illinois State 30-24. In a series that began in 1981, Illinois State won 13 of the first 20 meetings. Since then, Drake is 23-11 against ISU, including a 14-game winning streak from 1997-2004. The Redbirds have won six of the last eight meetings, including a thrilling 88-84 overtime win at Redbird Arena on Jan. 31. Pingeton is 6-3 all-time against Drake.

Wild, wild weekend

ISU's final two road games were selected for MVC Wildcard Weekend on Feb. 11. The Valley has three television slots reserved for the second-to-last weekend of conference play and fills them with games that are relevant to the conference race. The start times for both games were pushed back 30 minutes to accommodate the television schedule. Both games can be seen live on FSN Midwest and Fox College Sports and will be shown on tape delay on Comcast Sportsnet Chicago. ISU is 4-0 in televised games this season, including a 2-0 mark in "MVC Game of the Week" broadcasts.

Third time's the charm

Junior guard Kristi Cirone earned her third Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week award on Monday. Cirone and Drake forward Jill Martin are the only players to collect three conference awards this season. Cirone now has six MVC Player of the Week awards in her career, putting her in a tie with Shyla McKibbon of Evansville and Tricia Wakeley of Drake for the fourth-most all-time. ISU and Drake lead the conference with four player-of-the-week awards each this year.

(Game notes) [To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDF file, click here.]

[Text from file received from Jimmy Knodel, assistant media relations director, Illinois State University]