NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team travels to New Haven, Connecticut, to take on Yale Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CST). The game marks the first meeting between the two teams.
Octavia Crump led Illinois State with 20 points, but her effort wasn't enough, as ISU fell to Northern Illinois, 68-59, Sunday at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. Crump's 20 points led all scorers, to go along with five rebounds, four steals and two blocks.
Crump was the only Redbird to score in double figures. Lexie Taylor added eight points, setting a career-high, while Colleene Smith and Millie Stevens scored seven apiece. Smith led ISU in rebounds with eight. Illinois State had the advantage on the boards, collecting 46 rebounds compared to NIU's 42. The Huskies sank 44 percent of their field goal attempts, while the Redbirds found the bottom of the net on 31 percent of their shot attempts. ISU led both teams in steals with 10, six more than NIU.
REDBIRDS-BULLDOGS SERIES
Illinois State and Yale will meet for the first time in program history Wednesday night.
ABOUT YALE
• Yale is located in New Haven, Connecticut and has an enrollment of 5,300 undergraduate students.
• The Bulldogs are members of the Ivy League and finished the 2014-15 season tied for third place.
• The Bulldogs finished 13-15 last season with a conference record of 7-7.
• Yale returns four starters from last season.
NOT A FAMILIAR FACE
Wednesday's game will mark the first meeting between Yale and Illinois State, as the Redbirds add another Ivy League team to their list of opponents. Out of the eight teams that make up The Ivy League, ISU has faced Princeton twice on the hardwood and adds Yale.
CONSISTENT CRUMP
Senior forward Octavia Crump has led the Redbirds through their first eight games of the 2015-16 senior, playing the most consistent basketball of her career. Through eight games, Crump has scored in double figures seven times, including six-straight performances. During her six-straight games netting double-digit efforts, Crump is averaging 13.5 points per game. On the season, she leads the Redbirds with 13.3 points per game. Against Northern Illinois (Dec. 13), Crump scored a season-high 20 points. Crump's 20 points led all scorers, to go along with five rebounds, four steals and two blocks. She was the only Redbird to score in double figures in the contest.
SECOND CHANCES
On average, Illinois State trails opponents in total rebounds by three boards, but through eight games, the Redbirds have pulled down 100 offensive boards, four more than their opponents. ISU is led by Viria Livingston and Millie Stevens in offensive rebounds.Livingston has collected 15 offensive boards, while Stevens has also grabbed 15. ISU is averaging 12.5 offensive rebounds per game. The Redbirds have pulled down double-digit offensive rebounds in six of their eight games.
TAKING THE BALL
ISU has recorded double-digit steals in four of its last five games, averaging 10 steals a game over the last five games. ISU recorded a season-high 11 steals at UTSA (Nov. 27). In the game, Brechelle Beachum led ISU with a career-high four steals, while Octavia Crump, Colleene Smith and Taylor Stewart each collected two. Since the UTSA game, ISU has recorded 10 steals three times. The one game the Redbirds didn't record double-digit steals was against SIUE (Dec. 1), when ISU recorded nine steals.
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