Redbirds Welcome South Dakota State to Redbird Arena Thursday

Nov. 18, 2009

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nicolle Lewis - C
Lewis was named to the Hawkeye Challenge All-Tournament team, along with teammate Maggie Krick. She averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks over the two games. Lewis had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against UCLA. She turned in the seventh 20-point performance of her career against Iowa. Lewis is five blocked shots away from moving into fourth place on the Valley career list.

MARIA BOEVER - F
Boever has started out the 2009-10 season strong, averaging a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds over the first two games. She had 21 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime win over Gonzaga in the season-opener. Boever was one of four Jackrabbits named to the Preseason All-Summit League Second Team.

REDBIRDS-JACKRABBITS SERIES
South Dakota State won the only previous matchup with Illinois State. The two teams met in the second round of the 2007 WNIT in Brookings, S.D., with the Jackrabbits winning, 61-48. Illinois State was two days removed from a triple overtime home win over Rice. Maggie Krick and Nicolle Lewis both started that WNIT game, but had just four points and three rebounds between them. South Dakota State seniors Alison Anderson, Maria Boever and Ketty Cornemann all played in 2007. Boever had eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Coming into the season, Illinois State knew it would need to rely on the senior trio of Ashleen Bracey, Maggie Krick and Nicolle Lewis for success. The trio has stepped up big so far, making up the top-three Redbird scorers and rebounders. Through the first two games, the seniors have combined for 70.3 percent of ISU's scoring and are shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 95.5 percent from the free throw line.

BATTLE OF THE MID-MAJORS
Illinois State and South Dakota State are two of the best programs in women's college basketball that many people don't know much about. Both teams have won 20 games in each of the last three seasons, posting a combined record of 155-42. Both teams have been to the WNIT twice and the NCAA Tournament once in the last three seasons. Last year was perhaps the best in both school's histories. Illinois State won 27 games and made its deepest postseason run, advancing to the semifinals of the WNIT. South Dakota State went 32-3, reached as high as No. 14 in the national polls and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed.

TAKING ON THE BIG GIRLS
The term mid-major has been used so frequently to describe teams outside of the six major conferences in recent years. The Valley has been placed in the category of mid-major, but the stretch of teams that Illinois State has played recently has shown that the Redbirds can take on anyone in the county. Over the last six games, dating back to last season, ISU has faced teams from the Big East, Big Ten, Big 11, Pac-10 and WAC, posting a 4-2 record. Illinois State hasn't played a stretch of non-conference opponents this tough since the 1998 season.

REDBIRDS TAKE SECOND IN HAWKEYE CHALLENGE
In its first appearance in the longest running active women's basketball tournament in the country, Illinois State came in second place in the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge. Illinois State became the first Valley team to reach the championship in the conference's sixth appearance. Seniors Maggie Krick and Nicolle Lewis were both named to the all-tournament team.

REDBIRD OFFENSE TAKES FLIGHT IN EXHIBITIONS
Illinois State had an offensive explosion in its two exhibition games, averaging 87 points and scoring 100 against Kentucky Wesleyan. The Redbirds shot 51 percent (69-135) from the field and 41 percent (12-29) from three-point range. Of the 174 points the Redbirds scored, 86 were in the paint and they scored 51 points off of 41 turnovers forced. ISU was led by its trio of seniors, who all averaged double-figures in scoring - Maggie Krick (17.5), Ashleen Bracey (16.0), Nicolle Lewis (13.0). Bracey and Lewis dominated on the glass, averaging 8.5 and 8.0 rebounds per game, respectively. Junior Emily Hanley averaged 9.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game off the bench.

REDBIRDS PICKED SECOND IN MVC PRESEASON POLL
Illinois State was projected to finish in second place in the annual Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, conducted by the leagues coaches, sports information directors and media. Illinois State received 340 votes, falling just behind Creighton (393). The Bluejays (34) and Redbirds (6) were the only teams to receive first-place votes. ISU has been picked in the top-three in the preseason poll in each of the last three seasons. In three of the four previous years the Redbirds were picked second in the preseason poll, they wound up winning the MVC regular-season title.

KRICK NAMED PRESEASON ALL-VALLEY
Senior guard Maggie Krick was named to the Preseason All-Valley team for the second-consecutive year. Krick is ISU's leading returner in scoring, three-point field goals, assists, steals and minutes. She was a Preseason All-Valley pick before last season and was named to the All-Valley Second Team after averaging 12.6 points per game. She was joined on the preseason all-conference team by Megan Neuvirth (Creighton), Jordann Plummer (Drake), Kelsey Luna (Indiana State) and Casey Garrison (Missouri State). Neuvirth was named the Valley Preseason Player of the Year; the first year the award has been given on the women's side. All five players on the preseason team were All-Valley selections last year.

NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Illinois State will be well-prepared for the rigors of the Missouri Valley Conference with a challenging non-conference schedule in 2009-10. The Redbirds will play 11 games during the non-conference slate, facing four teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season (Ball State, DePaul, Iowa, South Dakota State). Those four teams combined for a 102-33 record last season, and Ball State and South Dakota State both won first round games in the tournament.

ISU SIGNS THREE FRESHMEN TO NLI'S
National Signing Day came Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Illinois State had three high school seniors sign National Letters of Intent to play for the Redbirds beginning in 2010-11. Marley Hall (West Hancock/Warsaw, Ill.), a 6-foot-2 forward, Chloe Nelson (Incarnate Word/St. Louis, Mo.), a 5-foot-7 guard, and Alison Seberger (Montini Catholic/Lombard, Ill.), a 6-foot-2 guard, will be freshmen for the Redbirds next season.

THREE-PEAT
Illinois State's WNIT berth last season marked the third-consecutive year the Redbirds have advanced to postseason play. It was the third time ISU was in the postseason at least three-straight seasons. ISU made three postseason trips from 1988-90 and six-consecutive from 1980-85.

ANOTHER THREE-PEAT
Illinois State completed another rare three-peat last season. The Redbirds won 20 games for the third-straight season for the third time in program history. The Redbirds won 20 games from 1982-85 and 1987-90. ISU has also completed back-to-back 25-win seasons for the first time in program history.

TONIGHT ON 20/20
Illinois State's 27 wins were the second-most in program history, one win shy of the school record 28 set in 1980-81. The Redbirds' win over Wichita State Feb. 14 secured the 12th 20-win season in program history and marked the third-straight 20-win season, a feat achieved just one other time (1982-85). The Redbirds reached the 20-win plateau in the second-fewest games ever (24), falling just short of the 23 games it took the team last season, and set a school record for regular-season wins (24).

TWO TIMES 1,000
Junior Maggie Krick (1,053) and redshirt junior Nicolle Lewis (1,035) both joined the ISU 1,000-Point Club at the end of the 2008-09 season, bringing the membership up to 24. There have been five years in Illinois State history when two players have scored their 1,000th point in the same season. Krick and Lewis are the first duo to start a season with 1,000 points since 1990-91, when Cindy Kaufmann and LuAnn Robinson were both seniors.

SHELTON SET TO REDSHIRT
Kenyatta Shelton suffered a torn right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) June 9 and will redshirt the 2009-10 season. She injured her knee during a pick-up game in Redbird Arena and had surgery July 29. Shelton tore her left ACL in June 2007 and missed the first four games of the 2007-08 season.

Nicolle Lewis: QUEEN OF THE BLOCK
Redshirt junior Nicolle Lewis blocked four shots against Northern Iowa March 1 to move past Leslie Ferrell (177) for ISU all-time lead and ended the season with 189 in her career. After blocking 11 shots in eight games before a knee injury cut short her freshman season, Lewis has recorded at least 40 blocks the last three seasons, including a career-best and school-record 78 in 2008-09. Lewis' 2.2 blocks per game ranked 28th in the nation. Lewis recorded multiple blocks in 21 games, including a season-high six against Indiana State Feb. 7 and five blocks three times. She was the main influence in ISU's school-record 152 blocks this year.

THREE-COLA!!
Since Robin Pingeton became head coach in 2003-04, the Redbirds have been letting fly from three-point range at a record rate. Pingeton's six seasons make up the top-six records in three-point field goals in school history. ISU's 184 three-pointers last season were the fifth-most in school history and the Redbirds have eclipsed 200 triples in the years during the Pingeton era.