Former Ankeny Centennial standout Jaeden Pratt has enjoyed a successful freshman season with the Illinois State women’s basketball squad.
Unfortunately, Thursday’s game against Drake won’t be one of Pratt’s highlights on the court.
The Redbirds fell behind at the end of the first quarter, 26-13, and went on to drop a 73-55 decision at the Knapp Center. The Bulldogs avenged a 77-70 loss at Normal on Feb. 7.
“I think it was just our overall (lack of) grit and toughness,” said Pratt. “I think they out-toughed us tonight.”
Drake shot 40 percent from 3-point range (8-of-20) and outrebounded Illinois State by a 43-25 margin. The Bulldogs grabbed 17 offensive boards that resulted in 18 second-chance points, matching their margin of victory.
“They shot the ball really well,” Pratt said. “And they lead our conference in offensive rebounds, so we knew that was going to be a big factor tonight. We just couldn’t execute it.”
Former Southeast Polk star Brooklin Dailey had 14 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs (10-9, 11-18). Ex-Cedar Falls prep Grace Knutson added nine points and a career-high eight boards off the bench.
“To have that effort in our last home game of the season is like a fairy tale,” said Drake coach Allison Pohlman. “It’s been a season of ups and downs, and it was just amazing to watch our team flourish in so many ways. We had a phenomenal game plan, and even better execution of it. I’m excited to be playing our best basketball in the month of March.”
Pratt’s former Centennial teammate, Mya Crawford, is a freshman on the Drake squad. She is sitting out the season after suffering an ACL injury, but cheered on the Bulldogs from the bench.
“It was nice to come back and see some familiar faces, seeing some of my old teammates and my old coaches,” Pratt said. “I hope the best for (Crawford). She is a fighter, and I know she’ll have a very strong comeback. I wish she was out there and wish she could play this season, but I’m really excited to see how her future is.”
Pratt started for the 25th time this season and played 31 minutes, well above her 24.4 average. She finished with two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Pratt is averaging 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Redbirds (12-7, 18-12). She missed her only two shot attempts on Thursday–both from behind the arc in the first quarter.
“We got a little internal and just couldn’t shake it, but we’re going to come back strong this next week–including the conference tournament coming up–and hopefully we can turn some heads and get some momentum going toward that,” Pratt said.
The loss dropped Illinois State into a fourth-place tie with Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference. Both teams trail third-place Bradley by one game, but the Redbirds will close out the regular season on Sunday against the Braves in Peoria with a chance to sweep the season series and earn the No. 3 seed for next week’s MVC tournament in Coralville.
“Tonight should give us some hunger and hopefully get us momentum toward March,” Pratt said.