Illinois State-Bradley Game Notes in PDF Format
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Jan. 27, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State's women's basketball team will look to remain undefeated at home and extend its eight-game Missouri Valley Conference winning streak when it hosts rival Bradley at Redbird Arena Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. The game will kick off ISU's "#1" promotion, as general admission tickets will cost a season low $1, the $1 hot dog promotion makes its return to Redbird Arena, and fans will have the chance to watch the Redbirds, the No. 1 team in the Valley.
The ISU athletics department is setting an attendance goal of 4,000 fans, which would surpass the all-time Redbird Arena attendance standard (3,721), which was set against Northern Iowa on Jan. 4, 1996.
The Redbirds (15-4, 8-0 MVC) are coming off Thursday's 60-58 win at Northern Iowa, their first win in Cedar Falls, Iowa since the 1997 season. Illinois State's frontcourt duo of Nicolle Lewis and Lashawn Johnson combined for 35 points and 18 rebounds as head coach Robin Pingeton clinched her 250th career head coaching win.
Illinois State's current eight-game conference winning streak marks the longest such streak under Pingeton, and extends ISU's best start to a league slate since starting out the Gateway Conference schedule 16-0 in the record-setting 1988-89 campaign.
Bradley (7-12, 3-5 MVC) has collected three wins in Valley play after claiming just five conference victories all of last season. The Braves have won at Drake (Jan. 8) and Missouri State (Jan. 21), and defeated Evansville (Jan. 13) at home. Bradley ranks fourth in the MVC in free throw percentage (.737) and rebounding margin (+0.6), and are holding their opponents to a league fourth-lowest .412 field goal percentage in conference play. Senior Erika Nelson leads the Valley in three-point field goals, pouring in 2.74 treys per game.
Dating back to the 1983-84 season, Illinois State holds a decisive 30-17 all-time series lead over rival Bradley. The Redbirds have claimed two of the last four meetings, and are 4-5 versus the Braves under Pingeton.
