NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team learned of its 18-game Missouri Valley Conference schedule, the league announced Tuesday. Start times are still to be determined and games will primarily be played Fridays and Sundays.
The Redbirds open conference play Sunday, Dec. 31, when they welcome Bradley to Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena for the annual I-74 Rivalry Series, which will be the program's 10th-straight year they open the Valley season at home, and the second-consecutive year Illinois State opens with the Braves. The Redbirds then hit the road for contests at Valparaiso (Jan. 5), the newest member of the conference, and at Loyola Chicago (Jan. 7).
The following weekend Illinois State returns home to host Missouri State (Jan. 12) and Southern Illinois (Jan. 14), before heading back to Indiana for games at Evansville (Jan. 19) and Indiana State (Jan. 21).
January ends and February begins with a four-game homestand inside Redbird Arena. The Redbirds first play defending conference champion Drake (Jan. 26) and Northern Iowa (Jan. 28), which concludes the first half of the conference schedule, before playing their return games against Loyola (Feb. 2) and Valparaiso (Feb. 4).
Illinois State returns to the road the following weekend to play Southern Illinois (Feb. 9) and Missouri State (Feb. 11), before concluding the home portion of the schedule against Indiana State (Feb. 16) and Evansville (Feb. 18).
The Redbirds end the regular season with three-consecutive road tilts, as they end the month of February with trips to Northern Iowa (Feb. 23) and Drake (Feb. 25), while the return game in the I-74 Rivalry Series is slated for Saturday, March 3, at Bradley.
For the third-consecutive season, the MVC Tournament will be held in Moline, Illinois, inside the iWireless Center, March 8-11.
With the 15-game nonconference schedule, the Redbirds are scheduled to play 29 games in the regular season, with 15 coming at home and 13 being true road contests. The second game at Long Beach State's Beach Classic in December will be contested a neutral site. For season ticket information, please contact the Redbird Arena Ticket Office at (309) 438-8000, or visit GoRedbirds.com.
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