Redbirds On the Road to Face Evansville, Southern Illinois

Feb. 17, 2010

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ashleen Bracey – F
For the third time in the last four weeks, Bracey was named MVC Player of the Week. She had her sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Wichita State and tied her career-high with 26 points against Missouri State. Bracey’s three MVC Player of the Week awards this year are tied for the most with Missouri State’s Jaleshia Roberson. Bracey also became the 25th player in Redbird history to score 1,000 points in her career.

AMY GALLAGHER – G
Gallagher leads Evansville in scoring (10.6 ppg), assists (67) and steals (39). She had 15 points and three steals in Evansville’s near upset of Creighton last weekend. Gallagher had a team-high 11 points in the first meeting with the Redbirds, the only Evansville player to score in double-figures.

STEPHANY NEPTUNE – F
In her first and only season in the Valley, Neptune has established herself as one of the most dynamic forwards in the conference. She is averaging a double-double with 10.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, but her versatility really shows in the fact she leads Southern Illinois in assists (101), blocks (28) and steals (56). She has eight double-doubles on the season, including 10 points and 11 rebounds in the first game against ISU. Neptune grabbed 28 rebounds against Murray State earlier in the year, the second-highest total in Valley history.

FASTBREAK POINTS
Illinois State is on an 11-game winning streak, its longest of the season … ISU hasn’t lost at Evansville since 2005 … ISU hasn’t been swept in the Evansville-Southern Illinois road swing since 2000 … the Redbirds averaged 81.5 points against SIU and Evansville in the first meetings of the season.

REDBIRDS-PURPLE ACES SERIES
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Evansville, 20-12. The series began when Evansville joined the Valley in 1995, with ISU winning the first eight meetings. Evansville holds a slight 12-11 edge since then, winning four season series. The two teams met in the MVC Tournament for the first time last season, with the No. 9 seed Purple Aces upsetting the No. 1 seed Redbirds, 73-60.

REDBIRDS-SALUKIS SERIES
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Southern Illinois, 45-38. In the longest running series in the school’s history, Illinois State has played Southern Illinois annually since 1972. The Redbirds went 22-5 against the Salukis through 1985. After that, SIU posted a 29-13 record in the series, including a string of 12-straight wins. The Redbirds have won four-straight over the Salukis.

FLASHBACK: ILLINOIS STATE 75 - EVANSVILLE 46 (JAN. 23)
The third-largest crowd in ISU women’s basketball history (4,162) watched the Redbirds beat Evansville, 75-46, Saturday. Jan. 23. Four Redbirds scored in double-figures, led by Maggie Krick’s 18, to give ISU it’s biggest margin of victory of the season. The Redbirds never trailed in the game, held its largest lead at 33 points and held the Purple Aces to 23.4 percent shooting as a team.

LAST TIME OUT
Ashleen Bracey, Nicolle Lewis and Maggie Krick combined for 65 points, leading Illinois State to an 82-72 win over Missouri State on Valentine’s Day. Bracey tied her career-high with 26 points and Lewis logged a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Redbirds shot 57.1 percent from the field and withheld two late charges by the Lady Bears, cutting the lead down to five and six points.

WE’RE GOING STREAKING!!
Since losing to Creighton by 25 points in the second MVC game of the season, Illinois State has won 11-straight games. The current streak is tied for the fifth-longest in school history, along with the 1983-84 season. ISU has also won 10-straight Valley games, the third longest streak in school history. The Redbirds have had a double-digit winning streak in each of the last three seasons, the first time that has occurred in program history.

HIGH PERCENTAGE OFFENSE
Head coach Robin Pingeton has attributed much of ISU’s recent success to better shot selection. The statistics show she is right, as the Redbird offense has been red hot during the 11-game winning streak. ISU is averaging 75.5 points per game and shooting 49.4 percent from the field in the last 11 games. The top-seven Redbird scorers are all shooting above 41 percent. ISU has won the 10-consecutive games by an average of 14.1 points, scoring above 70 points eight times. Prior to the 11-game winning streak, Illinois State was ranked 166th in the nation with a .397 field goal percentage. As of Feb. 15, the Redbirds had moved up to 28th in the nation with a .442 field goal percentage.

DEFENSE MAKES WINNING STREAKS
Illinois State’s 11-game winning streak isn’t all about the offense. The Redbird defense has turned up the intensity as well. ISU is holding its opponents to 61.4 points per game and .354 field goal percentage in the last 11 games. The Redbirds have won eight games by double-digits, including two 29-point victories.

TONIGHT ON 20/20
Illinois State is on the verge of its fourth-consecutive 20-win season, an unprecedented feat in Redbird basketball history. Illinois State has posted three-straight 20-win seasons three times (1983-85, 1988-90, 2007-09), so 20 wins this year would mark the longest streak in program history. In the 16 seasons between 20-win seasons (1991-2006), ISU averaged 11.6 wins per year. The Redbirds have posted more wins (75) in the past three seasons than any other three-year span ever.

FIRST HALF, FIRST PLACE
For the fourth-consecutive season, Illinois State finished the first half of the Valley season in first place. ISU has won at least eight games in the first half of the Valley season in four-straight years. The second half of the season hasn’t been as successful for the Redbirds. In the last three full seasons, ISU posted a 25-2 record in the first half and a 16-11 record in the second half. In each of coach Pingeton’s first four years at ISU, the Redbirds had a 4-5 record in the second half of conference play.

1,000-POINT CLUB
For the fourth time in program history, Illinois State has three players on this year’s team who have scored 1,000 points in their careers. Seniors Ashleen Bracey, Maggie Krick, Nicolle Lewis are all members of the 1,000-point club; with Krick and Lewis reaching the milestone last season and Bracey becoming the 25th member against Missouri State (Feb. 14). There have been three previous seasons with three 1,000-point scorers on one team (1989-90: Char Govan, Cindy Kaufman, LuAnn Robinson; 1997-98: Jenny Schmidt, Valarie Trame, Corinne Vossel; 2008-09: Kristi Cirone, Krick, Lewis). The Redbirds have never had three players score their 1,000th point in the same season.

REDBIRD RECORD BREAKERS
Illinois State’s trio of seniors - Ashleen Bracey, Maggie Krick, Nicolle Lewis - are all making their mark on the Illinois State record book. Bracey’s career-high 26 points against Missouri State Feb. 14 made her the 25th member of the 1,000-point club. She has also broken into the top-10 in career rebounds at ISU. Krick is ranked fourth in career three-pointers (159) and could become the third player in school history to reach 200. She also cracked the school’s top-10 scoring ranks with 17 points against Indiana State (Feb. 6). Lewis is already ISU’s career leader in blocks and moved into second place in the Valley ranks this season. She needs to play in just two more games to break the Illinois State record of 133 set by Deb Benak (1979-83).

DIGGIN’ THE VALLEY
Senior Ashleen Bracey is loving Missouri Valley Conference play and putting in her bid for player of the year, leading the Redbirds in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg), while shooting 52.8 percent (66-125) from the field and 88.2 percent (30-34) at the free throw line. She is tied for second in the Valley in both scoring and rebounding in conference play. After not recording a double-double in non-conference play, Bracey has six in the 12 Valley games thus far; coming one rebound short in three others. She has won three of the last four MVC Player of the Week awards, tied for the most in the conference this season.

ON POINT
Junior Amanda Clifton had the daunting task of replacing All-American point guard Kristi Cirone this season. After struggling through the beginning of the season, Clifton has excelled with a 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio over the last 17 games. Clifton has 64 assists and 21 turnovers during that span, recording at least four assists and no turnovers in four games. She leads the Valley in assist-to-turnover ratio both overall (2.1) and in conference play (2.8), ranking 18th in the nation overall.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE
Illinois State is 13-0 this season when a player records a double-double. Seniors Ashleen Bracey and Nicolle Lewis have combined for 13 double-doubles this season, continuing their climb up the all-time rankings. All six of Bracey’s double-doubles have come in Valley play and she has 18 in her career, tied for the fourth-most in school history. Lewis’ seven double-doubles give her 17 in her career, the sixth-most in school history. Junior Shala Jackson recorded her fourth-career double-double at Eastern Illinois.

BRIGHT LIGHTS OF BROADWAY
Illinois State sophomore Katie Broadway has been putting on a show over the last 11 games, averaging 8.6 points per game and shooting 53.3 percent (24-45) from three-point range. Broadway scored a career-high 20 points at Indiana State, making six three-pointers. She has made 21 of her 45 three-pointers in Valley play, ranking first in three-point field goal percentage (.467) in conference play. She shot 14-for-55 from three-point range her entire freshman season.

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; combining for 59.8 percent of the ISU scoring production and 49.9 percent of its rebounding. One of the trio has led ISU in scoring in 21 of the 23 games this year. All three players rank in the top-15 in the Valley in scoring and rebounding. The win over Indiana State (Feb. 6) was the trio’s 91st together, making them the winningest senior class in Illinois State history.

FREEBIES, BUT GOODIES
ISU is cashing in its free throws this season. The Redbirds lead the nation in free throw percentage (.809) and have four players ranked in the top-15 in the conference. The Redbirds are averaging 15.8 makes per contest and have made 20 free throws in eight games. The Jan. 2 loss to Creighton was the only game this year the Redbirds have shot less than 70 percent from the charity stripe, making just 4-of-6 (.667).

THREE, OH, IT’S A MAGIC NUMBER
Three is the magic number when predicting Redbird success this season. ISU is shooting 36.4 percent (104-286) from three-point range in its 18 wins, as opposed to 27.7 percent (23-83) in its five losses. Perhaps more notably, Redbird opponents are averaging nearly three more made three-pointers when they win (7.6) than when they lose (5.1). ISU’s loss to Ball State was the only one when the Redbirds made more three-pointers than their opponent. ISU is allowing opponents to make 5.7 threes per game and shoot 33.9 percent from long range overall, which ranks 265th in the nation.

Nicolle Lewis: QUEEN OF THE BLOCK
Redshirt senior Nicolle Lewis has accumulated some impressive defensive accolades in her career. She became Illinois State’s career leader in blocks in just three years, is only the fifth player in Valley history to amass 200 blocks and moved into second place in Valley career blocks this season. Lewis leads the Redbirds with 46 blocks and leads the Valley with a 2.0 blocks per game average. She has had multiple blocks in 14 games, including six blocked shots against Wichita State (Feb. 12), which was tied for the third-most in school history.

TRANSFER FUNDS
Juniors Emily Hanley and Hannah Spanich have each spent a season on the sideline, watching the Redbirds’ success after transferring from other schools. Both players are on the court this year and making quite an impact. Hanley is third on the team in field goal percentage (.485), fourth in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and tied for fifth in scoring (6.2 ppg). She scored a career-high 14 points against Southern Illinois and had a career-best 10 rebounds at Illinois-Chicago. Spanich is fourth on the team in scoring (6.7 ppg), third in blocks (16) and steals (19). She averaged 8.5 ppg in her first six games as a Redbird, which earned her a spot in the starting lineup. She has scored in double-figures seven times, including a career-high 15 against Indiana State.

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.

REDBIRDS WIN THE 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. In the second all-time meeting between the two schools Nov. 19, Illinois State came out on top, 79-67. Before falling to the Redbirds, the Jackrabbits had only lost four games in the past two seasons, three of which were to top-10 teams Arizona State, Baylor and Maryland, and were receiving votes in both national polls.

ISU SIGNS THREE FRESHMEN TO NLI
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.