NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team will play their final two home games of the season on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena this week, beginning with a 7:30 p.m. game against Southern Illinois Thursday night.
The Redbirds (6-19, 4-10 MVC) will be looking to end a four-game losing streak when they host the Salukis. Southern Illinois (17-9, 10-4) has won four-straight contests, and six of its past seven games.
Illinois State suffered a 73-61 loss at Loyola on Feb. 19, and a 52-38 setback at Bradley on Feb. 21. Katrina Beck led the Redbirds with a team-high 13 points in the loss at Loyola, while Viria Livingston notched her first-career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Taylor Stewart added nine points off the bench, thanks to a trio of 3-pointers.
Baskets were harder to come by in the loss at Bradley, as the Redbirds shot just 15.4 percent (8-for-52) from the field. Shakeela Fowler led the Redbirds with nine points in the loss.
Southern Illinois has been led by the backcourt tandem of Rishonda Napier and Cartaesha Martin, who average 15.2 and 13.0 points per game, respectively. Napier, who scored 30 points in the Salukis' 80-66 win over Wichita State on Feb. 21, was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday.
Illinois State leads the all-time series against Southern Illinois, 55-40, including a 29-20 mark in games played in Normal. Southern Illinois won an earlier matchup this season, a 76-71 victory in Carbondale, Illinois.
Tickets for Thursday's game can be purchased at the Illinois State Ticket Office, by calling (309) 438-8000, or by visiting GoRedbirds.com/tickets. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3, and links for live video, audio and stats can be found at GoRedbirds.com.
Fans can also receive live updates from the game by following @Redbirdwbb on Twitter.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
