NORMAL – After Mary Crompton nailed a 10-foot jumper with 34 seconds left in the first half Thursday at Redbird Arena, Valparaiso held the basketball for a final shot.
That shot never came. The Illinois State defense did not permit it.
ISU swallowed up the Beacons’ efforts to score most of the evening while claiming a 65-49 Missouri Valley Conference victory.
“I thought this was by far our best defensive effort of the season and probably one of the better ones since we’ve been here,” ISU coach Kristen Gillespie said. “We really bought into the scout.