NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team hosts Maryville in an exhibition game at 7:05 p.m., in Redbird Arena Wednesday night. It is the only public exhibition game the Redbirds will play before the 2014-15 regular season.
Illinois State returns eight letterwinners from the 2013-14 team that finished tied for sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season.
The Redbirds were projected to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll for the 2014-15 season, as voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media. It is the second time in school history that the Redbirds have been picked to finish eighth, with the last time coming prior to the 2013-14 season. The eighth seeds are ISU's lowest preseason projections since the 2003-04 season, when Illinois State was selected to finish ninth.
All fans in attendance will receive a schedule magnet giveaway following the exhibition game.
Redbirds-Saints Series
Illinois State and Maryville will meet for the first time in program history Wednesday evening.
About Maryville
• Maryville is located in Maryville, Mo., and has an enrollment of 6,485.
• The Saints are members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (Division II).
• The Saints finished 20-12 last season and look to become the first team to reach four-straight GLVC Tournament title games since Northern Kentucky did so from 1999 to 2002.
• Maryville was picked to finish third in the GLVC preseason poll.
Redbirds Picked Eighth In MVC
The Illinois State women's basketball team was projected to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll for the 2014-15 season, as voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media. Illinois State received 125 votes in the poll with its eighth-place selection, a change of pace since ISU has been picked in the top-five in 19 of the 32 preseason polls in conference history. It is the second time in school history the Redbirds have been picked to finish eighth, with the other time coming last season. The eighth-place selections have been ISU's lowest preseason projection since the 2003-04 season, when Illinois State was selected to finish ninth. The 2003-04 squad went on to end the conference season in fifth place. Wichita State is the preseason favorite to win the conference with 395 points and 26 first-place votes, and is followed by Northern Iowa (338). The Panthers garnered two first-place votes, while Drake (315), Evansville (252) and Indiana State (234) rounded out the top-five teams. Drake was the only other team to receive first-place votes, collecting two. Missouri State is projected to finish sixth (190), with Loyola (166) following behind in seventh place. The Redbirds are picked to finish ahead of Southern Illinois (116) and Bradley (60), who occupy the final two spots in the preseason poll. ISU was selected to finish eighth during the 2013-14 season and ended the regular season tied for sixth place.
More Minutes
Prior to the 2013-14 season, ISU lost several of its key players and most of its minutes played. Now, heading into the 2014-15 season, the Redbirds are singing a different tune, as ISU returns 76 percent of its minutes played.
Big Shoes to Fill
Illinois State will have to replace graduated seniors Chloe Nelson and Alison Seberger in 2014-15, which will be a tough task to overcome since Nelson led the team in several categories, including total points and points per game. The Redbirds will also have to replace Alexis Foley, due to a transfer. Nelson earned all-conference honors, as well as being named an All-Valley Scholar-Athlete First Team selection.
Redbird Top-Returners
Illinois State returns three Redbirds who led nine categories during the 2013-14 season. Lindsay Smith led ISU in three categories at the end of the last season, including steals (33), free throw percentage (.896) and three-point field goal percentage (.304). Octavia Crump was at the top of the stat sheet in all four rebounding categories, including total rebounds (186), rebounds per game (6.2), offensive boards (64) and defensive boards (122). Crump also led the team in field goal percentage, connecting on 52 percent of her shots. Kalyn Gebhardt was the last Redbird to lead a category during the 2013-14 season, as she collected a team-high 11 blocks.
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