NORMAL, Ill. –The Illinois State women's basketball team closes out its non-conference schedule Sunday, as it hosts in-state rival No. 25 DePaul at 2:05 p.m. The game will mark the 14th meeting between the two teams, and it will be the fifth-straight home game for the Redbirds.
ISU fell at the hands of Butler, 72-60, Monday afternoon at Redbird Arena. Illinois State had three players score in double figures for the second-straight game. Octavia Crump led the Redbirds with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Stekara Hall and Katy Winge added 11 points apiece. Hall grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the game to go along with her 11 points for the first double-double of her career. Colleene Smith recorded her second-straight double-digit rebounding performance, as she pulled down 10 boards.
ISU was 25-of-70 from the field (35.7 percent) and outrebounded Butler, 49-34. The Bulldogs shot 26-of-55 (47.3 percent) from the field and scored 26 points off of ISU's 22 turnovers.
The Blue Demons lead the all-time series 10-3, including seven-straight wins since the 2006-07 season. DePaul has a 4-1 advantage in games played in Normal, Illinois. Illinois State's last win over its in-state rival came nearly three decades ago on Jan. 11, 1984, when the Redbirds won, 78-65, at DePaul.
ABOUT DEPAUL
• DePaul is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has an enrollment of 23,799.
• The Blue Demons are members of the BIG EAST Conference and finished the 2013-14 season in first place.
• The Blue Demons finished 29-7 last season with a conference record of 15-3.
• DePaul advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season and ended with a record of 2-1
• DePaul ended the 2013-14 season ranked 16th.
THROUGH THE RANKS
On Sunday, the Redbirds welcome in-state rival No. 25 DePaul to Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena. The 2:05 p.m., contest will be the final non-conference opponent of the 2014-15 season for ISU, while DePaul will be the first ranked opponent Illinois State will face this season. Since the 1971-72 season, the women's basketball program has competed against 60 ranked teams, as Dec. 28th will mark the 61st game against a ranked opponent. The last time ISU faced a ranked rival was during the 2011-12 season, when the Redbirds played against then-ranked No. 23/21 DePaul. The Blue Demons defeated the Redbirds, 73-54, at Redbird Arena on Dec. 19, 2011. The 2014-15 meeting will mark the fifth time the two teams have competed when DePaul was ranked.
ENDING THE STREAK
The Illinois State women's basketball team opened the 2014-15 season dropping 10-straight games. The Redbirds are the first team in program history to fall in its first 10 games. The 2001-02 team lost its first seven games, before defeating Northern Illinois (Dec. 20, 2001) by three points in Normal, Illinois.
TRIPLE THREAT
Against Bowling Green (Dec. 19), the Redbirds had three players record double-digit scoring efforts for the first time this season. Octavia Crump (17), Stekara Hall (14) and Katy Winge (11) all netted double-digit performances. Three days later against Butler (Dec. 22), the trio scored in double figures for the second game in a row. Crump led the way again with 15 points, while Hall and Winge both added 11.
SEEING DOUBLE
On Dec. 22 against Butler, junior guard Stekara Hall recorded the first double-double of her career, as she pulled down 10 rebounds to go with 11 points. The 10 rebounds were a career high, as five the 10 rebounds came on the offensive side of the ball.
BRIGHT SPOTS
Illinois State pulled down 49 rebounds against Butler (Dec. 22), which was the second-most rebounds by the Redbirds this season. ISU grabbed 51 boards against Buffalo (Nov. 29). In the loss against Butler, Illinois State collected a season-high 24 offensive rebounds. The 24 offensive boards gave the Redbirds 22 second-chance points and 44 points in the paint, improving in both areas down low.
CALLING CRUMP
Junior forward Octavia Crump has been ISU's leading scorer in its last five games. Since Nov. 29 against Buffalo, Crump has been the offensive spark for Illinois State. In the five four games, Crump netted double-digit performances in each contest. Since Nov. 29, Crump is averaging 16.4 points per game and has connected on 60 percent of her field goal attempts. During the five games, Crump tied a career-high 21 points against UT Martin (Dec. 7), shooting 9-of-13 (.692) from the field. Crump got off to a quick start, as she connected on her first five shot attempts from the field, and scored 10 of ISU's first 12 points versus the Skyhawks. On the season, the junior forward is leading the Redbirds in points per game (12.1), field goal percentage (.580) and is second in rebounds per game (6.5). She is also a top-10 leader in the Valley in field goal percentage, rebounds per game, as well as offensive and defensive rebounds.
REBOUNDING MACHINE
Colleene Smith has been dominant on the boards for the Illinois State women's basketball team and has had two double-digit rebounding performances this season. She is averaging 7.6 rebounds per game, which is a team best. Smith set a career high in ISU's loss to Buffalo (Nov. 29), pulling down 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive side of the ball. Against Bowling Green, she grabbed 11 rebounds and pulled down 10 against Butler, including five offensive boards. Through 10 games, Smith has also recorded nine steals, five blocks and four assists.
MORE REBOUNDS, MORE POINTS
In five of ISU's 10 games this season, the Redbirds haven't been able to score more than 50 points. In the five games when Illinois State scored 50 or more points, ISU shot 365 percent from the field compared to the 34 percent in the other five games. With the shooting nearly the same, the main difference proves to be rebounding. When ISU scored 50 or more points, it averaged 43 rebounds per game, and when it didn't score 50 points, the team only averaged 35 rebounds per game.
DISHING IT/TAKING IT
Two areas of emphasis Illinois State is working on through the non-conference season are assists and turnovers. The Redbirds have struggled with turning the ball over so far during the 2014-15 season, as they average 19.2 turnovers per game and have had five games with 20 or more turnovers. When it comes to sharing the ball, ISU only has 73 assists to 195 made baskets through 10 games. With one non-conference game remaining, the Redbirds hope to increase their number of assists, while decreasing their turnovers and improve upon their 0.4 assist/turnover ratio.
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