NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team will face Evansville in the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Thursday at 7:07 p.m., at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The game can be seen on ESPN3.
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Evansville, 27-16. The series began when Evansville joined the Valley in 1995, with ISU winning the first eight meetings. Illinois State holds a slight, 19-16 advantage since then, including 14 wins in the last 20 games. The two teams have met once on a neutral court, when UE defeated ISU, 73-60, in the conference tournament (2009). Thursday's game will mark the second time the two teams will meet in the Valley Tournament.
The Redbirds finished the regular season in 10th place in the Valley standings. It is the second time in program history that the Redbirds finished 10th at the end of the regular season, with the last time coming in 2000-01. It marks the first time Illinois State has been the 10th seed in the Valley Tournament. ISU has a 21-20 all-time record in the Gateway/Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
THIS SEASON VS. EVANSVILLE
Evansville won both games over Illinois State this season by a combined 29 points. Against the Purple Aces this season, Katy Winge is averaging 15 points per game, while Mary Sims averages 7.5 points per game. Octavia Crump leads the team in rebounds with six per game. As a team, ISU shot 32 percent from the field, while UE connected on 41 percent of its shot attempts.
REDBIRDS FINISH 10TH IN THE VALLEY
Illinois State finished the regular season in 10th place in the Valley standings. It is the second time in program history that the Redbirds finished 10th at the end of the regular season, with the last time coming in 2000-01. It marks the first time Illinois State has been the 10th seed in the Valley Tournament.
REDBIRDS IN MVC TOURNAMENT
Illinois State has a 21-20 all-time record in the Gateway/Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. ISU's 21 wins are the third most in conference history, behind Missouri State (37) and Drake (36). The Redbirds have won four championships, trailing only Missouri State (9) and Drake (5). In the 27 years that conference tournaments have been held, Illinois State has reached the championship game eight times.
WINGE NAMED TO ALL-VALLEY SCHOLAR-ATHLETE SECOND TEAM
Senior guard Katy Winge earned All-Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete honors Tuesday, as announced by the league office. She received second-team accolades. In all, 15 players were honored on the scholar-athlete teams. Winge is the only Redbird to start every game this season and is the team's leading scorer with 11.3 points per game. Through 29 games, she has poured in 328 points and tallied double-digit performances in 18 games, including five-straight games with a double-digit scoring effort. Besides leading ISU in points per game, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native also leads the Redbirds in assists (54) and three-point field goal percentage (33.1), and ranks third on the team in steals (30). Winge, a 2014 MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention selection, was named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Dec. 31, after leading ISU in scoring against Butler and then-No. 25 DePaul.
THREES AGAINST THE ACES
The two games where the Redbirds have found the bottom of the net eight or more times from three-point range have both come against Evansville. On Jan. 16, ISU drained eight 3-pointers, setting a season-high at the time. In the second contest (Feb. 15), Illinois State bested the season high by netting nine shots from three-point range against the Purple Aces. Against Evansville, Illinois State is shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc, while UE has drained 40 percent of its long-range shots. Both teams have netted 17 threes between the two games.
FINDING THE BOTTOM OF THE NET
Illinois State was firing on all cylinders, as it defeated Southern Illinois (March 7), 69-54, at SIU Arena, earning its second win of the season. Three Redbirds scored in double figures, while ISU shot a season-best 53 percent from the field. ISU netted 43 points in the first half, marking the most points ISU scored in an opening half this season. Katy Winge led the Redbirds with 19 points, while Octavia Crump was close behind with 18. shot 50 percent from the field, netting 12 points. Each Redbird that played in the contest found the bottom of the net. It marked the first time this season that every player that saw time scored in a contest. Illinois State drained 30 field goals. It was the first time in two seasons that the Redbirds were able to accomplish the feat. The last time came on March 3, 2013, when ISU found the bottom of the net 30 times from the field, against Missouri State.
SHARING THE BALL
ISU struggled with assists for most of the season, but in its last four games, the Redbirds have dished out double-digit assists. Against Missouri State (Feb. 22), Illinois State had a season-high 15 assists, while Mary Sims led the Redbirds in the category with a career-high six assists. At Loyola (Feb. 27), ISU handed out 10 assists followed by a 12-assist performance at Bradley (March 1). ISU continued to share the ball at Southern Illinois (March 7), as the Redbirds dished out 10 assists in the win. It marks the first time this season the Redbirds had four-straight double-digit performances in the assist column. The previous best was two-straight double-digit performances, which came against Bradley (Jan. 30) and Loyola (Feb. 1).
BETTER BOARDS
In the second half of the Valley season, the Redbirds were outrebounded seven times in nine games. ISU was able to end the four-game streak of being outrebounded by its opponents at Southern Illinois (March 7), when the Redbirds pulled down 15 more boards than the Salukis. Illinois State collected 41 boards, compared to Southern Illinois' 26. The 26 rebounds were the fewest by a Redbird opponent this season. Prior to Saturday's game, the last time ISU pulled down more boards than its opponent was against Evansville (Feb. 15).
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
