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NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team will plays its only exhibition contest of the 2016-17 season Tuesday when it welcomes Harris-Stowe to Redbird Arena, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m.
Tuesday's contest will be streamed live on ESPN 3 and on the airwaves on WJBC AM 1230 and StretchInternet.com. Live stats will also be available on StatBroadcast.com.
The Redbirds are 3-0 in exhibition games under head coach Barb Smith, who enters her fourth season in Normal.
ISU was selected to finish eighth in the 2016-17 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll prior to the start of the league's Media Day at the St. Louis City Center Hotel last week. The poll is compiled from votes by the conference's sports information directors, media and coaches.
This year's squad will be one of the youngest in the nation, featuring six freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and two seniors. Overall, the program will be ushering in seven newbies.
Sophomores Katrina Beck and Viria Livingston are the squad's top-two returning scorers, with Beck averaging 5.9 points and Livingston 5.5 points per game last season. Livingston led the Redbirds on the glass during her freshman campaign with 6.1 rebounds per game, and she is the top-returning distributor from a year ago with 36 assists, and steals leader with 33. She also set the program record for most offensive rebounds by a freshman with 78, which was good enough for the eighth-best tally in single-season history. Beck, meanwhile, looks to improve upon her team-leading 31 triples from a year ago. The duo also returns with the most starting experience from last season, combining for 47 starts. Each student-athlete played in 28 game, with Livingston starting 25 and averaging 29.1 minutes per game, while Beck started 22 contests and averaged 23.6 minutes per game.
Senior Taylor Stewart is the most experienced student-athlete in the program, having played in 88 out of a possible 90 games, including 30 career starts, with four coming last season. She averaged 5.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 21.2 minutes per game to go along with 35 assists, 27 steals and 26 made three's.
Sophomore Millie Stevens (3.2 points, 2.8 rebounds) and senior Brechelle Beachum (3.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, 31 steals) also return and add much-needed depth. Both student-athletes made six starts, while Stevens played in 29 games and Beachum all 30.
Out of the six incoming freshmen, three hail from the state of Illinois: Frannie Corrigan (LaGrange Park, Ill./Lyons Township), Morgan VanHyfte (Annawan, Ill./Annawan) and Megan Talbot (Barrington, Ill./Barrington). Zakiya Beckles (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex), Deja Turner (Tampa, Fla./Plant) and Amaria Allen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) are the other incoming freshmen.
Junior Hannah Green (Santa Clarita, Calif./West Ranch (College of the Canyons)) is a junior college transfer from the state of California. Green will be a junior and averaged 13.9 points, 13.7 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game, as she led the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) in blocks per game and ranked third in caroms per game.
Harris-Stowe is an NAIA school in St. Louis, Missouri, that plays in the American Midwest Conference. The Hornets won 19 games a year ago and have already registered one victory under their belt this season, after defeating Cardinal Stritch, 56-47, at home Saturday. Head coach Hana Haden is in her second season leading Harris-Stowe. Tuesday's meeting will be the first ever between the two schools.
To purchase season tickets, fans are encouraged to contact the Illinois State Athletics Ticket Office either online by navigating to GoRedbirds.com/Tickets, in-person by entering through the north doors to Redbird Arena, or over the phone by calling (309) 438-8000.
The Redbirds open the season Friday, Nov. 11 when they travel to Tempe, Arizona, to take on No. 16 Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
