NORMAL, Ill. –The Illinois State women's basketball team opens the 2015-16 regular season at Bowling Green Friday at 6 p.m. (CST), in Bowling Green, Ohio. The game can be seen on ESPN3.
The Redbirds faced off against Lindenwood in their only exhibition game. ISU won the contest, 71-70, after battling back from a double-digit deficit. Shakeela Fowler, Katrina Beck and Octavia Crump led the Redbirds, as all three scored in double figures.
Illinois State returns four letterwinners from the 2014-15 team that finished 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season.
The Redbirds were projected to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll for the 2015-16 season, as voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media. Illinois State received 48 votes in the poll with its 10th-place selection, a change of pace since ISU has been picked in the top-five in 19 of the 33 preseason polls in conference history. It is the first time in school history that the Redbirds have been picked to finish 10th. The Redbirds were expected to finish ninth over five-straight seasons from 1999-2000 though the 2003-04 season.
REDBIRDS-FALCONS SERIES
The game will mark the eighth time in program history that the Redbirds and the Falcons will face off on the hardwood. Bowling Green leads the all-time series, 5-2, over Illinois State. The Nov. 13 game will be the fourth time the two teams have competed in Bowling Green, Ohio. The two teams competed last season, as the Falcons took a four-point victory, 58-54. BGSU holds a perfect 3-0 advantage in game played at Bowling Green. The Falcons won three-straight games in the series from the 1990-91 season to the 1992-93 season.
ABOUT BOWLING GREEN
• Bowling Green is located in Bowling Green, Ohio, and has an enrollment of 17,558.
• The Falcons are members of the Mid-American Conference and finished the 2014-15 season sixth in the east division.
• The Falcons finished 9-21 last season with a conference record of 2-16.
• BGSU returns four starters from last season.
READY TO GET STARTED
As far as exhibitions go, they don't get much more exciting than the Illinois State women's basketball team's 71-70 win against Lindenwood (Nov. 4). The Redbirds were led by freshman Shakeela Fowler, who led the team in points, assists and steals, in their only exhibition game of the season. Fowler finished with a game-high 22 points, connecting on 10-of-15 from the field, while recording four assists and five steals in her first appearance as a Redbird. Freshman Katrina Beck also netted double figures, scoring 16 points, sinking the team's only two 3-pointers in the contest. Beck also recorded five steals, while Octavia Crump also scored in double figures with 12, and pulled down nine rebounds, just missing a double-double. Freshman Viria Livingston recorded a game-high 10 boards as the Redbirds collected 40 rebounds. ISU forced the Lions into 25 turnovers for the game, which led to 22 Redbird points. ISU sank 29 free throws and had 17 steals in the exhibition contest.
GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Illinois State is 21-23 all-time in season-opening games. Over the last 12 seasons, Illinois State is 7-5 in season-openers, including a streak of winning four straight. The women's basketball team has won four-straight season-opening games twice in program history. The first time was 1981-85, and then again from 2009-12. ISU opens the 2015-16 season on the road at Bowling Green and hopes to start another win streak. ISU hasn't won a season-opening game since the 2012-13 season.
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