Feb. 25, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
NORMAL, Ill. - With a 71-58 victory over Bradley Thursday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, Illinois State captured its seventh Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title. Maggie Krick led the way for the Redbirds with 17 points and eight assists.
Illinois State (21-5, 14-1) clinched its third-consecutive championship for just the second time (1988-90) and back-to-back outright conference titles for the first time ever. The Redbirds have now won the MVC regular-season championship outright four times (1985, 1989, 2009, 2010).
Thursday night's victory marked the Redbirds' 14th -straight win, which ties its second-longest winning streak in school history, matching a total set during the 2007-08 season. The win also moved the `Birds 13-game winning streak against MVC opponents into second-longest all time.
Katie Broadway scored 15 points for the Redbirds while, Ashleen Bracey had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Bracey's double-double marked her eighth of the season and 20th of her career, making her the fourth Redbird with 20 or more double-doubles in her career. Nicolle Lewis contributed eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Shala Jackson chipped in with 10 points.
The Redbirds jumped out to an early 15-12 lead in the first half, as Krick scored 10 of ISU's first 12 points. Then Illinois State caught fire and used a 12-0 run to push their lead to 27-12 on an Amanda Clifton layup at the 8:57 mark. Bradley (14-11, 10-5) did claw their way back to make it 30-17 at the 5:03 mark on a layup by Katie Yohn. That sparked the Redbirds, who used a 12-5 run to take a commanding 42-22 lead into the locker room. Krick led all scorers with 15 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field including three-of-four from behind the arc, as ISU shot 53 percent from the field to the Braves' 30 percent.
Broadway came out on fire in the second half, as she converted both of her three-point attempts to give the Redbirds their largest lead of the game, 48-24, at the 18:08 mark. The Redbirds maintained a lead of at least 16 points through the half until the 2:31 mark, when Brooke Bisping converted a layup for the Braves. Bradley brought the Redbird lead to within 11 points with 44 seconds remaining, but it proved to be too little, too late as ISU held on for the victory.
Katie Yohn led Bradley with 12 points while Raisa Taylor chipped in with 11 points. Sonya Harris had eight points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Illinois State will host Northern Iowa for their final home game of the season Sunday. The Redbirds will honor seniors Bracey, Krick and Lewis before the game, which is set to tip-off at 2:05 p.m.
