NORMAL, Ill. –The Illinois State women's basketball team will tip-off the regular season as they travel to Rochester, Michigan to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the O'rena beginning at 12p.m. CT. on Saturday.
Redbirds – What you need to know
The Redbirds began their season with an 80-54 exhibition victory over Eureka last week, but head coach Kristen Gillespie was not impressed with the defensive effort. Even though the Redbirds held their opponent to a 33.9 field goal percentage, the lack of guarding was discussed in the press conference and the issue was again addressed in practice. The Redbirds look to make improvements going into their first regular season game. On the other side of the ball, the Redbirds were stronger shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 78.9 percent at the line.
Key Players
Senior Hannah Green has proven to be a threat on offense and defense after racking up a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds in the exhibition. She made a mark in the record books last season, after compiling a season total of 75 blocks, and tacked on three in the exhibition match.
Junior Katrina Beck was on the rise in the final games of the 2016-17 season. Beck averaged 13.6 points, four rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 81.8 percent from the free throw line over the last five games.
Golden Grizzlies – What you need to know
The Golden Grizzlies were picked to finish third in the Horizon League following their most successful season under Jeff Tungate's direction. The team returns Taylor Jones, who was voted to the preseason second team after her scoring efforts in the 2016-17 year. The Golden Grizzlies also return three starters from last season including, Taylor Gleason, Leah Somerfield and Sha'Keya Graves.
Key Players
Jones led the Golden Grizzlies in scoring last season averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 41.8 percent in the field. Senior Leah Somerfield was also a top performer for Oakland averaging 6.6 rebounds per game and 11.1 points per game.
