ChimpersCage

In the past week, I've had the pleasure of covering the Illinois State Lady Redbirds play 2 home games in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The Redbirds were honored to host both on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena. The first, a sweet 16 game against Marquette came down to the wire with Kristi Cirone sinking 2 free throws with 9 seconds left to put the Redbirds ahead by one point. A buzzer launched shot from the baseline missed, rimming out the game and season for the Golden Eagles. Following that Thursday night game was a Sunday 2:05 game against none other than the Hoosiers of Indiana. Wow, is about all I can say for that game. The 3600+ in attendance were rowdy and made as much noise as a crowd 3 times the size. Why didn't I put in my ear plugs, I'll never know. On the floor, the passion from each team to continue on to the final 4 was evident. It was a pretty bang up game with girls hitting the floor on almost every up and down. The officiating...