NORMAL, Ill. -The Illinois State women's basketball team travels to Moline, Illinois, to take on in-state rival Northern Illinois Sunday at 3:30 p.m., in the iWireless Center. The afternoon game is the second game of the MVC/MAC Challenge. UNI takes on Akron prior to the Redbirds versus Huskies at 1 p.m.
Illinois State and Northern Iowa will be the only two Valley teams that get to compete in the iWireless Center prior to the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Championship from March 10-13.
No. 23/18 DePaul outscored Illinois State, 31-8, in the second quarter, and the Redbirds couldn't overcome the deficit and fell, 89-41, inside McGrath-Phillips Arena on Dec. 5.
ISU (1-6) struggled with turnovers, committing 43, while DePaul (6-2) turned the Redbird miscues into 42 points. The Blue Demons also dished out 27 assists, while recording 26 steals. The Redbirds shot 42 percent from the field, while the Blue Demons connected on 46 percent of their attempts, including 11 3-pointers. Illinois State won the battle on the boards, collecting 36, one more than DePaul. Octavia Crump led ISU with 14 points, shooting 6-of-8. Shakeela Fowler added 10 points, while Katrina Beck pulled down a career-high seven rebounds.
ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
• Northern Illinois is located in DeKalb, Illinois, and has an enrollment of 22,990.
• The Huskies are members of the Mid-American Conference and finished the 2014-15 season in sixth place in the west division.
• The Huskies finished 12-17 last season with a conference record of 8-10.
• Northern Illinois returns three starters from last season.
AN EARLY LOOK
The Redbirds will take on in-state rival Northern Illinois on Dec. 13, as part of the Missouri Valley Conference/Mid-American Conference Challenge. ISU will host NIU at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois, at 3:30 p.m. Illinois State and Northern Illinois will tip off at the conclusion of the Northern Iowa versus Akron game. Illinois State and Northern Iowa will be the only two teams that get to compete in the iWireless Center prior to the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Championship from March 10-13. The 2016 conference tournament will be the first one held in Moline, Illinois, after previously competing in St. Charles, Missouri.
CONSISTENT CRUMP
Senior forward Octavia Crump has led the Redbirds through their first seven games of the 2015-16 senior, playing the most consistent basketball of her career. Through seven games, Crump has scored in double figures six times, including five-straight performances. During her five-straight games netting double-digit efforts, Crump is averaging 12.2 points per game. On the season, she leads the Redbirds with 12.3 points per game. Crump has also been a consistent rebounder, averaging 4.9 boards per game. She has also recorded an assist and steal in every game but two.
HANDLING THE BALL
The ISU struggled to hang on to the basketball against No. 23/18 DePaul (Dec. 5). Illinois State got rattled by the DePaul defense and struggled to regain composure throughout the remainder of the game. The Redbirds committed 43 turnovers, while the Blue Demons turned the ISU miscues into 42 points. The 43 turnovers were the most by the Redbirds this season, with the previous high being 24. DePaul's defense recorded 26 steals in Illinois State's 89-41 loss.
MORE OFFENSE
Against No. 23/18 DePaul, Illinois State struggled to score, as it netted 17 second-half points. The last time the Redbirds scored less than 20 points in a half was against Bowling Green on Nov. 13, when ISU scored 14 points over the first two quarters. Against DePaul, ISU was only able to get off 41 field goal attempts because of the Blue Demon defense. The 41 field goal attempts were the fewest attempts by the Redbirds this season. The Redbirds' previous low was 54. Of the 41 shots ISU got off, 13 were from three-point range, but the Redbirds were only able to find the bottom of the net once, sinking eight percent from beyond the arc in the game. ISU also struggled from the free throw line, connecting on 43 percent (6-of-14) from the charity stripe. It was the first time this season the Redbirds sank less than 50 percent of their free throw attempts. During the 2014-15 season, ISU shot less than 50 percent from the free throw line three times.
A TOUGH SECOND QUARTER
No. 23/18 DePaul (Dec. 5) outscored Illinois State, 24-4, over the first eight minutes of the second quarter, jumping out to a 50-20 advantage, while ISU committed 10 turnovers in nearly six minutes. The Blue Demons long-range attack fueled the run, as DePaul made eight from three-point range during the second quarter, including four-straight 3-pointers. The Redbirds went into the locker room trailing, 57-24. DePaul outscored ISU, 31-8, in the second quarter and the Redbirds couldn't overcome the deficit, as they fell, 89-41. The game marked the fifth-straight loss for Illinois State.
THROUGH THE RANKS
On Saturday (Dec. 5), the Redbirds traveled to Chicago to take on in-state rival No. 23/18 DePaul. The 7 p.m. contest was the first ranked opponent Illinois State faced this season. Since the 1971-72 season, the women's basketball program has competed against 61 ranked teams, as Dec. 5 marked the 62nd game against a ranked opponent. The last time ISU faced a ranked foe was during the 2014-15 season, when the Redbirds played against then-No. 25 DePaul. The 2015-16 meeting marked the sixth time the two teams competed when DePaul was ranked.
A STRONGER START
Through its first six games, Illinois State struggled to get its offense going early in each contest. In the first quarter, ISU scored a combined 56 points in six games, averaging to 9.3 points in the opening quarter. During the second quarter, ISU scored 88 combined points, averaging to 14.6 points scored in the second quarter. In the first half, ISU averages 24 points per game through six contests. However, after the break, the Redbirds are able to find a rhythm, as they average 36 combined points in the second half of play. As a team, ISU's offense improves with each quarter, as Illinois State has scored 121 combined points in the fourth quarter through six games. In its seventh game of the season, ISU scored 16 points at No. 23/18 DePaul in the first quarter for its best performance in the opening quarter of the 2015-16 season.
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