Just as the ILS and INS road swing for the Shocker men may prove to be the key weekend in the men's drive to a second consecutive MVC title so will this road swing hold the key to the Shocker women either winning or sharng its 1st Valley title in program history.
Just as with the Men, this is probably the toughest road swing in the Valley this year.
The Shocks face Illinois State is (18-8, 10-4) Thursday night in Normal. Personally, I think Illinois State may have the best talent in the league and this will be a very tough game. Both Creighton and Illinois State still have a chance to catch and or pass the Lady Shocks. Creighton has by far the easiest and most favorable schedule remaining.
Illinois State is 6-1 in Valley home games with its only loss a surprising 71-57 loss to Evansville earlier in the year when Evansville was playing better. The Shocks defeated the Redbirds 66-54 in Koch Arena 4 weeks ago.
Illinois State relies on 3 very good players. Jamie Russell, 5-8 Sr G averaging 14.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 2.6 steals per game, Janae Smith, 6-2 So F averaging 13.3 PPG and 8.5 RPG and Candace Sykes, a very athletic 5-10 Sr G who likes to shoot the 3-pointer averaging 13.2 PPG and 5.5 RPG.
The Shocks then travel to Terre Haute for an early Sunday afternoon game at 12:30 against Indiana State (16-9, 8-6). The Shocks ground out a 53-46 win over the Sycamores in their 1st meetting this year at Koch Arena. INS is 4-3 in home Valley games including a 58-41 stomping of 2nd place Creighton.
Indiana State is fairly similar to Illinois State in that the go about 8 deep and rely primarily on a trio of key players. Anna Munn, a 5-10 Jr. G, averages 15.2 PPG and 4.8 RPG. She averages 8 3-point attempts per game. Racheal Mahan, a 6-1 So F, scores 13.6 PPG and 8.1 RPG. Taylor Whitley, a 5-9 Sr G, scores 10.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG. She only shoots about 1 trey per game but likes to drive you ot the basket where she gets to the FT line pretty frequently where she shoots about 80%. Indiana State plays pretty tough defense also.
I do not expect Creighton to lose another game. So the Shocks probably need to win their remaining 3 games to win a title outright and 2 of the 3 to share a title with Creighton.
RealTimeRPI.com predicts the following scores:
Illinois State 62 - Wichita State 52
Indiana State 61 - Wichita State 54
Hopefully, the Shockers will turn those predictions upside down.
:poster_shocks:
Just as with the Men, this is probably the toughest road swing in the Valley this year.
The Shocks face Illinois State is (18-8, 10-4) Thursday night in Normal. Personally, I think Illinois State may have the best talent in the league and this will be a very tough game. Both Creighton and Illinois State still have a chance to catch and or pass the Lady Shocks. Creighton has by far the easiest and most favorable schedule remaining.
Illinois State is 6-1 in Valley home games with its only loss a surprising 71-57 loss to Evansville earlier in the year when Evansville was playing better. The Shocks defeated the Redbirds 66-54 in Koch Arena 4 weeks ago.
Illinois State relies on 3 very good players. Jamie Russell, 5-8 Sr G averaging 14.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 2.6 steals per game, Janae Smith, 6-2 So F averaging 13.3 PPG and 8.5 RPG and Candace Sykes, a very athletic 5-10 Sr G who likes to shoot the 3-pointer averaging 13.2 PPG and 5.5 RPG.
The Shocks then travel to Terre Haute for an early Sunday afternoon game at 12:30 against Indiana State (16-9, 8-6). The Shocks ground out a 53-46 win over the Sycamores in their 1st meetting this year at Koch Arena. INS is 4-3 in home Valley games including a 58-41 stomping of 2nd place Creighton.
Indiana State is fairly similar to Illinois State in that the go about 8 deep and rely primarily on a trio of key players. Anna Munn, a 5-10 Jr. G, averages 15.2 PPG and 4.8 RPG. She averages 8 3-point attempts per game. Racheal Mahan, a 6-1 So F, scores 13.6 PPG and 8.1 RPG. Taylor Whitley, a 5-9 Sr G, scores 10.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG. She only shoots about 1 trey per game but likes to drive you ot the basket where she gets to the FT line pretty frequently where she shoots about 80%. Indiana State plays pretty tough defense also.
I do not expect Creighton to lose another game. So the Shocks probably need to win their remaining 3 games to win a title outright and 2 of the 3 to share a title with Creighton.
RealTimeRPI.com predicts the following scores:
Illinois State 62 - Wichita State 52
Indiana State 61 - Wichita State 54
Hopefully, the Shockers will turn those predictions upside down.
:poster_shocks:
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