Lady Shocks at Illinois State and Indiana State

[1972Shocker]

Now that the Shocker Men have tied a ribbon around their Valley Championship it's time for the Lady Shocks to go for a more than rare double. More than rare because the Ladies have never won a Valley basketball championship.

Shocks are tied for 1st at 11-3 with Missouri State. Illinois State is one game back at 10-4. The Lady Shocks play at Illinois State tonight at 7:30 and play at Indiana State (6-8) on Sunday at 2:00. Missouri State plays at Indiana State on Friday night and at Illinois State on Sunday. This weekend will go a long way in determining this year's regular season champion.

I would have preferred playing Indiana State first and and let the Bears and Redbirds beat up on each other but unfortunately we do not get to chose.

Illinois State defeated the Shocks handily in Koch Arena on January 27th winning 68-59. They are not particularly deep but their starting five is very solid. I was especially impressed with 5'9" Sr G Katie Broadway and 5'10" Jr G Candace Sykes.

Indiana State despite the below 0.500 Valley record will not be an easy out either. The Sycamores have 4 players averaging between 10.0 and 12.5 PPG and a 5th averaging 8.0 PPG led by 6'0" Sr G/F Deja Mattox and 6'4" Sr C Shannon Thomas. 5'6" Sr G Brittany Schoen is the Sycamore's carreer leader in 3 point makes and hurt the Shocks from behind the arc in Wichita. Also we get Indiana State on their Senior Day.

Definitely a tough road trip but if the Shocks bring the energy level they showed this past weekend against SIU and Evansville they will have a good shot at winning these games.

Good Luck Ladies!

:poster_shocks:

[xazshox]

Tonights game with Illinois State

The Lady Shocks are capable of playing much better defense than they did when Illinois State beat them here!

[flyingMoose]

A dynamic that seems to make us a different team now is the insertion of Alex into the starting lineup. I say "seems" because Southern Illinois and Evansville may not be a good test of the effectiveness of the change. Nevertheless, there is still the rebounding issue.

[1972Shocker]

The Lady Shocks are capable of playing much better defense than they did when Illinois State beat them here!

I agree. They did not play particularly well on either end of the court in the Illinois State game. However, Illinois State does present some offensive challenges that perhaps only Missouri State can match. Shocks will have to be on the A game tonight.

[1972Shocker]

A dynamic that seems to make us a different team now is the insertion of Alex into the starting lineup. I say "seems" because Southern Illinois and Evansville may not be a good test of the effectiveness of the change. Nevertheless, there is still the rebounding issue.

Good observations. Alex looked very good against SIU and Evansville, but as you point out playing well against the two bottom feeders in the league may or may not be a good indication. I will say though that Alex has the necessary skill set to develop into a very fine MVC player. She also seems to have good natural instincts on the court. So far most of her scoring comes from attacking the basket or run-outs in transition. She has a nice stroke from the FT line and Jody claims that she does have mid-range game in her repertoire. Just not sure how confident she is in using it. OTOH, why use it if you can consistently get to the basket for shots.

Although SIU outrebounded us by 4 and Evansville outrebounded us by 7 I thought the rebounding was better this past weekend from a fundamental standpoint. They way SIU and Evansville shot the ball you get a lot of long and strange bounces also that in and of themselves can defeat good fundamental reboudning work. However, it seems pretty clear we are not a strong rebounding team. But if we keep it close on the boards we can still win. Just need to avoid being outrebounded by 25 like we were against Creighton and Missouri State.

[1972Shocker]

A dynamic that seems to make us a different team now is the insertion of Alex into the starting lineup. I say "seems" because Southern Illinois and Evansville may not be a good test of the effectiveness of the change. Nevertheless, there is still the rebounding issue.

Nice of Coach Marshall to take the time to talk with the Lady Shocks and reinforce what Jody is preaching. Hopefully, some of the good karma associated with the Men's team will infiltrate the Lady Shocks.

[flyingMoose]

I would have preferred playing Indiana State first and and let the Bears and Redbirds beat up on each other but unfortunately we do not get to chose.

OTOH, the Bears get the Redbirds on Senior Night. But normally, yes, I would prefer the tougher team as the second game of the road swing.

[1972Shocker]

OTOH, the Bears get the Redbirds on Senior Night.

True dat!

[1972Shocker]

Halftime: Shocks 27 - Redbirds 30

Shocks got off to a very slow start missing their first 7 shots (I think) and did not score until Krystle hit a trey at the 15:53 mark. Illinois State immediately answered with a trey of their own to lead 10-3 at the 15:30 mark. However, the Shocks rallied behind Haleigh (10 points) and Jessica (9 points) to take a couple of 1 point leads. The Redbirds hit a trey with 4 seconds remaining in the half to take a 30-24 lead but Jessica hit a near half-court shot at the buzzer.

One reason I think Illinois State is so tough for the Shocks is that they do a good job of taking care of the ball. The Shocks usually make a living in transition off of turnovers. However, the Redbirds turned it over only 4 times in the 1st half so not much business to do there.

The teams are even on the boards with 16 each. Molly giving the Shocks a nice boost with off the bench with 4 rebounds (2 on each end).

Hopefully, the half-court bomb from Jessica gives the Shocks a boost coming out for the 2nd half.

[WuDrWu]

We've got a real barn burner here folks!

[RoyalShock]

Ladies trail by 1 with 6 min. to play.

[WuDrWu]

Strange game....The Shocks are winning the battle of boards, but getting killed in the turnover department.

Neither team has been to the line much. Big 3 by the Redbirds takes the lead to 4 as they approach the 4 minute mark.

[RoyalShock]

Anyone know what the actual score is? ISU's Gametracker is all over the place.

[WuDrWu]

54-49 is the score. Under 4. Got the Redbirds to miss a FT but then WSU turns it over AGAIN.

Down 5 Redbirds ball. Shocks are going to have to cut into the lead right now. 320 left.

[WuDrWu]

56-49.....Under 3.


Basket by Turner and a timeout. 56-51.