Shocker WBB @ Illinois State and @ Indiana State

[1972Shocker]

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:

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

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:

Thanks as always for the info. Sunday's game is on the Fox Sports network MVC channel 34 or 2034 Cox Cable HD.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks off to a slow start but thankfully ILS has only been slightly better. ILS 6 - WSU 4 at the 1st media timeout.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks 2-12 from the field.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks down 7-11 at the 2nd media timeout which is pretty good considering they are 3-15 from the field and that is with Bugg Jones, one of their poorest shooters going 2-2.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks hanging tough and finally knocking down a few shots. Shocks lead 16-15 at the under 8 media timeout.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks lead 24-21 at the final media timout with 2:31 remaining in the half. Shocks hanging with ILS on the boards so far thanks to 6 rebounds by 5-7 Jessica Diamond and winning the turnover battle 9-3 which has been big as the Shocks are only shooting 34.4%.

[1972Shocker]

No further scoring as the half ends with the Shocks up 24-21.

Sounds like a real meat-grinder of a game. I think the Shocks will need a little better half offensively in the 2nd half if they are going to walk out with a win. It will be very difficult to hold ILS down for two consecutive halves, especially on their home court.

It would be helpful if we could get a little more from Jaz, Chynna, Michelle, Kelsey and Michaela. They were a combined 1-14 in the first half. ILS size and strengh in the front court makes it tough for the Shocks especially the tweeners like Chynna and Michaela and the skinnies like Jaz and Kelsey.

Only 5 players Alex (9), Bugg (5), Jessica (4), Darice (4) and Chynna (2) for the Shocks and only 4 players for ILS Smith (10), Sykes (5), Russell (4) and Puni (2).

May boil down to whose teams support players can contribute some production.

[shoxlax]

Do the men and the women have the same shooting coach?

Is Bug Tekele in drag? They are both from Georgia and have similar games.

[1972Shocker]

Both teams come out much better offensively in the 2nd half but the Shocks have a nice little 7-0 run on a jumper by Jessica, a trey by Michaela and a steal and break away by Alex to go up 37-29 at the 1st media timeout of the 2nd half.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks extended their run to 11-0 and built a 12-point lead at 41-29, but ILS has answered with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 41-35 with 12:00 minutes remaining.

Shocks turning the ball over a little too much this half also.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks lead 45-40 at the under 8 mediat timeout. Alex with a driving layup and foul will be shooting the and 1 when play resumes.

Sounds like the Shocks are having some difficulty combating the physicality advantage that ILS can bring to bear.

Jessica in particular is taking a beating.

Looks like this game may go down to the wire.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks still hanging on to a slim 50-46 lead at the final media timeout. ILS will be shooting a free throw when play resumes.

Anybody's game at this point. Shocks struggling with the size and strength of the ILS front court. Hopefully, the Shocks have enough gas in the tank to compete to the end.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks legs may be gone and ILS pounding the ball inside.

Since the media timeout Jessica missed a three, the Shocks had turnover, ILS got an offensive rebound and scored and Darice missed a 3.

[1972Shocker]

ILS leads 55-54. The Shocks have the ball with 16 seconds left, about 10 on the shot clock I think.