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NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (2-1) will host Yale (2-2) Tuesday evening on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena, with tipoff slated for 7 p.m.
THE SERIES:
Illinois State and Yale are meeting for only the second time in program history, with the first-ever matchup occurring last season, Dec. 16, 2015, when the Redbirds fell at Yale, 60-47, in New Haven, Connecticut.
THE COACHES:
Illinois State: Barb Smith (Ohio State, 1986) is in her fourth season as the head coach at Illinois State and has the Redbirds off to their best start in six seasons when they started out 3-0.
Yale: Allison Guth (Illinois, 2004) is in her second season as the head coach at Yale (16-19) and her second season overall as a head coach. She is no stranger to Illinois, having grown up in Buffalo Grove, played at Illinois and coached at DePaul and Northwestern.
ILLINOIS STATE:
The Redbirds were picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference. Illinois State improved to over .500 for the first time since finishing the 2012-13 season 24-11, after the Redbirds handled Valparaiso, 77-56, in their 2016-17 home opener Saturday. Senior Taylor Stewart poured in a career-high 24 points in the victory and knocked down a career-high seven triples, which tied the program record for most three's in a game.
YALE:
Picked to finish sixth in the eight-team Ivy League, the Bulldogs are off to a 2-2 start, having lost both of their contests on the road, and Tuesday's game will be their third in five days. The 14-member team is constructed of eight freshmen and sophomores, with five making up the former. Lena Munzer leads the way with 16.0 points per game, while Jen Berkowitz adds 10.5 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game.
BEST START IN SIX SEASONS
The victory over Valparaiso allowed the Redbirds' their best start to a season since 2010-11. The last time they started 2-1 was 2009-10.
ABOVE .500
The win over Valparaiso moved the Redbirds over the .500 mark for the first time since finishing the 2012-13 season with a record of 24-11.
LOOKING TO START 3-1
A victory over Yale would give the Redbirds their first 3-1 start since the 2010-11 season when they started out 3-0 before dropping their fourth game of the season.
LAST THREE-GAME WIN STREAK
A victory over Yale would give the Redbirds their first three-game winning streak since March 9-16, 2013.
WINNING THE FIRST TWO GAMES AT HOME
A victory over Yale would give the Redbirds two victories in their first two home games since defeating Northern Illinois and UIC in the 2011-12 season.
STEWART'S CAREER DAY FOLLOWS STEWART'S CAREER NIGHT
Senior Taylor Stewart poured in a career-high 24 points and tied the program record for most three-pointers in a game with seven in the win over Valparaiso. She made of 7-of-12 from behind the arc, setting new career highs in both three-point field goals and attempts, and finished the game 7-of-14 from the field, tying her career best made field goals. In the previous contest at UIC, Stewart tied or set a new career high in six different categories. She scored a then career-best 19 points, connected on a career-high seven field goals, tied a career best in field goal attempts with 15, swished a then career-high four three's, took a then career-best 10 three-pointers and recorded a career-high four steals for the third time in her career. Over the two-game sample, Stewart averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
GREEN GOBBLES UP VALPO
Junior Hannah Green produced a solid all-around performance in the win over Valparaiso. Not only did she produce season highs in points (15), rebounds (9) and steals (4), she held the Crusaders' leading scorer, Dani Franklin, to only seven points, 18.5 points below her season average.
STEVENS SHINES AFTER SLOW START AGAINST VALPARAISO
Sophomore Millie Stevens missed her first six shots against Valparaiso, but she finished strong, scoring a season-high 15 points while tying a career high in rebounds with nine.
LIVINGSTON STUFFS THE STAT SHEET
Sophomore Viria Livingston stuffed the stat sheet against Valparaiso with five points, a season-high seven rebounds, a career-best six assists and two steals. She also set the tone on defense with her ball pressure.
SO MUCH ROBBERY
The Redbirds recorded a season-high 18 steals in the win over Valparaiso and have 28 thefts over their last two games. Joining junior Hannah Green with four steals was sophomore Katrina Beck, who registered a career high, and senior Brechelle Beachum recorded a season-high three. Eight of the 11 Redbirds who played tallied at least one.
DRAINING FROM DOWNTOWN
The Redbirds recorded a season-high 10 triples against Valparaiso, their most in a game since making 10 against Bradley, Feb. 12, 2012.
TURNOVERS
The Redbirds took much better care of the basketball against Valparaiso and turned the ball over only 12 times. Illinois State's defensive pressure forced the Crusaders into 30 turnovers, which led to a 27-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
WINNING THE BATTLE ON THE GLASS
The Redbirds won the battle on the glass for the first time this season, 43-39, in the win over Valparaiso. Illinois State also held a huge lead on the offensive boards, 20-7, which resulted in a 16-4 lead in second-chance points.
YALE HEAD COACH ALLISON GUTH'S STATE OF ILLINOIS TIES
Yale women's basketball head coach Allison Guth is no stranger to Illinois, having grown up in Buffalo Grove, played at Illinois and coached at DePaul and Northwestern. She led Buffalo Grove to the Class AA state championship in 2000 at Redbird Arena.
VERSUS THE IVY LEAGUE
Illinois State holds a 0-4 record against current members of the Ivy League, including a 0-1 record against Yale. The only other team the Redbirds have played in the Ivy League is Princeton, and the Tigers won all three meeting, including a 67-50 decision inside Redbird Arena Dec. 19, 2012, followed by a 65-39 Redbird loss in Princeton, New Jersey the following year.
BEACHUM RIGHT BEHIND AT UIC
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.
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 THE 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 all 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 will hit the road up Interstate 39 to DeKalb, Illinois, to take on Northern Illinois this Saturday, Nov. 26, with tipoff slated for 6 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center.
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