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NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (1-1) will host Valparaiso (1-1) in the 2016-17 home opener on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena Saturday afternoon, with tipoff slated for 1 p.m.
THE SERIES:
Illinois State and Valparaiso are meeting for the fourth time in program history and the first time in nearly 16 years, with the Redbirds holding a 2-1 lead dating back to Jan. 10, 1980, which was an 84-35 victory at Central Missouri State's Jennies Classic in Warrensburg, Missouri. Cathy Boswell pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds in the triumph. The two sides met again nearly 20 years later when Valpo claimed a 74-60 victory at Redbird Arena, Dec. 19, 1999. The last meeting occurred Dec. 22, 2000, a 60-56 Illinois State win at Valpo.
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Barb Smith (Ohio State, 1986) is in her fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State. Smith is looking to continue to build the program, after quadrupling the team's win total one year ago.
Valparaiso: Tracey Dorow (Western Michigan, 1996) is in her fifth season as the head coach at Valpo (34-91) and coached at Ferris State for 14 seasons (232-163). She played three seasons at Illinois State (1990-93).
ILLINOIS STATE:
The Redbirds were picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Redbirds evened their record at 1-1 with a 59-52 victory at UIC, Monday, Nov. 14. Seniors Taylor Stewart and Brechelle Beachum each recorded career highs in scoring, with Stewart netting 19 points on a career-best four triples, and Beachum tallying 15 points.
VALPARAISO:
Picked to finish ninth in the 10-team Horizon League, the Crusaders are off to a 1-1 start on their three-game road swing to begin the season. Dani Franklin is top 10 in the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per game. Valpo also has five freshmen and seven players on the roster listed at 6-foot or taller.
STEWART'S CAREER NIGHT
Senior Taylor Stewart tied or set a new career high in six different categories in the win at UIC. She scored a career-best 19 points, connected on a career-high seven field goals, tied a career best in field goal attempts with 15, swished a career-high four three's, took a career-best 10 three-pointers and recorded a career-high four steals for the third time in her career.
BEACHUM RIGHT BEHIND
Senior Brechelle Beachum also had a career night offensively in the win over UIC, tying or establishing career highs in four different categories. She netted a career-best 15 points, made a career-high five field goals, tied a career best in field goal attempts with 13 and tied her career high in made three's with two.
NONCONFERENCE ROAD LOSING SKID ENDS
Illinois State's victory at UIC ended a 15-game losing streak in true nonconference road games. Before Monday night's win, the Redbirds' last win on the road in the nonconference was Dec. 30, 2012 when they won at Butler, 65-57. Including neutral site games, Illinois State had lost 19 of its last 20 away from Redbird Arena, with its only win coming in a 68-64 triumph over Florida, Nov. 29, 2013 in the Bahamas.
VALPO HEAD COACH TRACEY DOROW'S ILLINOIS STATE TIES
Valparaiso women's basketball head coach Tracy Dorow played at Illinois State from 1990-1993 when she was Tracey Bloodworth. She led the Redbirds in assists as a sophomore (1991-92) while finishing seventh in the Gateway Conference that same season. Dorow transferred to Northern Michigan for her senior season.
VERSUS THE HORIZON LEAGUE
Illinois State holds a 27-18 record against current members of the Horizon League, after defeating UIC Monday night, and 18 of those games played are against UIC. Before the Redbirds defeated the Flames, Illinois State's last win over a Horizon League opponent was Nov. 29, 2012 when the Redbirds defeated Milwaukee, 75-54, at Redbird Arena. The Panthers return to Normal to play the Redbirds in December.
LOOKING FOR BEST START IN SIX SEASONS
A victory by Illinois State Saturday would give the Redbirds their best start to a season since beginning the 2010-11 season 3-0, which was the last time they won their third game of the season. The last time Illinois State started the year out 2-1 was in 2009-10.
1-1 START
Illinois State's win over UIC produced the Redbirds' second-consecutive 1-1 start to the season.
46TH SEASON OPENER
Illinois State dropped to 21-25 all-time in season openers, after falling at No. 18/16 Arizona State.
LONGEST ROAD TRIP
The season-opening trip to Tempe, Arizona, then to Chicago, Illinois, was Illinois State's longest road trip of the season in terms of days (5) and miles (3,652) roundtrip.
REDBIRDS PICKED EIGHTH IN MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE
Illinois State was selected to finish eighth in the 2016-17 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll, announced Tuesday, Oct. 25 by the league prior to the start of the league's Media Day at the St. Louis City Center Hotel. The poll is compiled from votes by the conference's sports information directors, media and coaches. The Redbirds received 123 points in the poll, after finishing seventh last season when they were predicted to finish last. Drake is the favorite to win the league, as the Bulldogs collected 392 points and 34 out of a possible 40 first-place votes. Northern Iowa is predicted to finish second with 317 points and four first-place votes, while Missouri State was picked right behind the Panthers in third place with 313 points and the final two first-place votes. Southern Illinois (306), Wichita State (248), Indiana State (199) and Bradley (141) fill out slots four through seven. Completing the final two spots in the poll after ISU is Evansville (109) and Loyola Chicago (52).
NEEDS REPLACING
Illinois State lost its top-three scorers from a year ago, who combined to average 30.5 points per game, which was 52.4 percent of the team's scoring.
RETURNING REDBIRDS
Sophomores Katrina Beck and Viria Livingston are the squad's top-two returning scorers, with Beck averaging 5.9 points and Livingston 5.5 points per game last season. Livingston led the Redbirds on the glass during her freshman campaign with 6.1 rebounds per game, and she is the top-returning distributor from a year ago with 36 assists, and steals leader with 33. She also set the program record for most offensive rebounds by a freshman with 78, which was good enough for the eighth-best tally in single-season history. Beck, meanwhile, looks to improve upon her team-leading 31 triples from a year ago. The duo also returns with the most starting experience from last season, combining for 47 starts. Each student-athlete played in 28 game, with Livingston starting 25 and averaging 29.1 minutes per game, while Beck started 22 contests and averaged 23.6 minutes per game. Senior Taylor Stewart is the most experienced student-athlete in the program, having played in 88 out of a possible 90 games, including 30 career starts, with four coming last season. She averaged 5.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 21.2 minutes per game to go along with 35 assists, 27 steals and 26 made three's. Sophomore Millie Stevens (3.2 points, 2.8 rebounds) and senior Brechelle Beachum (3.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, 31 steals) also return and add much-needed depth. Both student-athletes made six starts, while Stevens played in 29 games and Beachum all 30.
NEW FACES
Out of the six incoming freshmen, three hail from the state of Illinois: Frannie Corrigan (LaGrange Park, Ill./Lyons Township), Morgan VanHyfte (Annawan, Ill./Annawan) and Megan Talbot (Barrington, Ill./Barrington). Zakiya Beckles (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex), Deja Turner (Tampa, Fla./Plant) and Amaria Allen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain) are the other incoming freshmen. Junior Hannah Green (Santa Clarita, Calif./West Ranch (College of the Canyons)) is a junior college transfer from the state of California. Green will be a junior and averaged 13.9 points, 13.7 rebounds and 6.5 blocks per game, as she led the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) in blocks per game and ranked third in caroms per game.
ONE OF THE YOUNGEST IN THE NATION
With its roster consisting of six freshmen, three sophomores, one junior and only two seniors, the 2016-17 edition of the Redbirds will be one of the youngest teams in the nation.
REST OF THE NONCONFERENCE
The Redbirds will not have to travel far during the nonconference portion of their schedule, after starting the season at Arizona State. ISU plays its next 10 games in their home state, with six taking place inside Redbird Arena against the likes of Valparaiso, Yale, Eastern Illinois, Wisconsin, Milwaukee and George Mason. The Redbirds will have the luxury of only having to travel to UIC, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois and SIUE.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds welcome Yale to Redbird Arena this Tuesday, Nov. 22 for a nonconference tilt at 7 p.m.
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