March 23, 2009
| LOUISIANA TECH (21-12) at ILLINOIS STATE (24-7) |
| Date |
Tuesday, March 24 |
| Game Time |
7:05 p.m. |
| Location |
Normal, Ill. (Redbird Arena)
|
| Radio |
WJBC
(R.C. McBride - Play-by-Play | Jill Hutchison - color commentary) |
Live Video |
Redbird All Access (FREE) |
| Live Stats |
GoRedbirds.com |
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kristi Cirone - G
Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year. First Team All-Valley. Valley All-Defensive Team. Valley Scholar-Athlete. Cirone racked up all of these honors for the third-consecutive year, solidifying her place as one of the greatest players in MVC history. Cirone became just the second player to win three-straight MVC Player of the Year awards and the sixth to be named All-Valley four-straight years. She also won her first conference scoring title.
SHANAVIA DOWDELL - C
Even though she is a post player, Dowdell has a lot in common with Kristi Cirone. She is the 2009 WAC Player of the Year a first-team all-conference member and an all-defensive team selection. She leads the team in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (9.8 rpg), field goal percentage (.535) and blocks (58); ranking in the top-three in the WAC in all three categories. Also like Cirone, she is a regional finalist for the State Farm Coaches' All-America team. Dowdell has recorded 17 double-doubles this season, including 31 points and 11 rebounds against SMU to open the WNIT.
ISU IN THE POSTSEASON WNIT
Illinois State is making its eighth appearance in the WNIT (1980, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1996, 2007) and has a 7-12 all-time record in the tournament. ISU's last appearance came in 2007, when Redbirds beat Rice at home in triple overtime, 71-61, before losing at South Dakota State two days later, 61-48. The 2007 tournament was the first ISU participated in that was held at host sites. The previous six were all played in Amarillo, Texas.
REDBIRDS-LADY TECHSTERS SERIES
Louisiana Tech has won all five all-time meetings with Illinois State. The Redbirds and Techsters first met in 1981 and played twice in a two-week span. The only meeting in Normal came Feb. 13, 1983. Louisiana Tech was the second team Illinois State ever played in the NCAA Tournament in 1985 and the last meeting came the following season. Three of the five meetings came in the Dial Classic, a tournament hosted by Louisiana Tech.
SCOUTING THE WNIT FIELD
Illinois State has faced 21 teams in the 2009 WNIT, posting a 56-64 all-time record. Valley-foe Creighton (14-25), Indiana (9-11) and Wisconsin (9-5) are the three teams that ISU is most familiar with. Illinois State, Indiana and UC-Riverside participated in both the Preseason and Postseason WNIT. Marquette is the defending WNIT champion.
THREE-PEAT
Illinois State's WNIT berth this season marks the third-consecutive year the Redbirds have advanced to postseason play. It is the third time ISU has been 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 has completed another rare three-peat this 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. A win over Lousiana Tech would give ISU back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time ever.
REDBIRDS WIN 2009 MVC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
Illinois State won the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a 15-3 conference record. It was the sixth regular-season conference title (1984-95, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 2007-08) and the third outright conference crown (1984-85, 1988-89) in school history. ISU also became the second school to win the regular-season title after being a unanimous top-choice in the preseason poll, joining the 1986-87 Southern Illinois squad.
CIRONE WINS JACKIE STILES MVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kristi Cirone. Jackie Stiles. For the past few years, the names of the two Valley greats have been compared due to their immeasurable talent. Now they will be linked together forever as the only players to be the conference's player of the year three times. Cirone solidified her spot alongside the Valley great by winning her third consecutive Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year award Thursday. Both Cirone and Stiles were named MVC Freshman of the Year as well.
CIRONE, KRICK, LEWIS NAMED ALL-VALLEY
Three Redbirds received All-Valley recognition in 2009. Senior Kristi Cirone was named to the first team and all-defensive team for the third-consecutive year. Cirone became the sixth player in the history of the Valley to be named all-conference all four years and the 10th to be on the all-defensive team three-straight seasons. She is the first Redbird to be a four-time All-Valley honoree and the third to be named to the first-team three-consecutive seasons (Cindy Kaufmann 1989-91, Jenny Schmidt (1997-99). Junior Maggie Krick and redshirt junior Nicolle Lewis were both second-team selections; the first since Holly Hallstrom in 2007. Krick earned her second-consecutive All-Valley honor, after being an honorable mention pick in 2008. Lewis was also an honorable mention selection in 2007.
THREE TIMES 1,000
Junior Maggie Krick's nine points against Evansville in the MVC Tournament made her the 23rd player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points (1,001). Redshirt junior Nicolle Lewis (994) is also within striking distance of joining the 1,000-Point Club. There have been five years in Illinois State history when two players have scored their 1,000th point. If both Krick and Lewis reach the milestone this season, they will join with all-time leading scorer Kristi Cirone to form the third trio of 1,000-point scorers on the same team. Char Govan, Cindy Kaufmann and LuAnn Robinson all reached the 1,000-point plateau in the 1989-90 season and Jenny Schmidt, Val Trame and Corrine Vossel each had at least 1,000 points in 1997-98.
