NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team travels to Northern Iowa to face the Panthers in a Friday night show down.
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (13-13, 7-8) at Northern Iowa Panthers (13-12, 9-5)
When: Friday, Feb. 21
Tip-Off: 7p.m.CT
THE SERIES
• The Redbirds are 40-34 overall when facing the Panthers. The 'Birds are 23-14 at home, 16-18 at Northern Iowa and 1-2 at a neutral site.
• The teams most recently met on Jan. 28 and the 'Birds fell 58-36.
• This is the second time Coach Gillespie and Coach Warren will meet.
REDBIRD BITS
• Illinois State enters the game coming off of a two-game win streak after defeating Evansville and Indiana State.
• The last time the program secured 13 or more wins was the 2012-13 season.
• Three Redbirds are in the top ten of the Valley for rebounding - Viria Livingston (6.6), Simone Goods, 6.5, Hannah Green (6.2).
• The Redbird defense continues to be the strongest in the Valley and sits eighth in the country for scoring defense, allowing 54.0 points per game. They also rank ninth in the nation for field-goal percentage defense holding opponents to an average of 34.8 percent.
• Freshman point guard Paige Saylor continues to frustrate opponents, averaging 2.5 steals per game. Saylor has led the MVC all season in this statistical category.
• Green, Goods and Katrina Beck have each had noteworthy performances this season, earning each of them MVC Player of the Week Honors.
• Goods topped the conference this week as she swept Player and Newcomer of the Week honors. Goods captured a career high on Friday night in points and steals with 29 and five respectively. She had another strong showing on Sunday with 24 points, nine rebounds and two steals. She shot 57.5 percent from the field going 23-for-40.This is the second time this season that she has earned Newcomer of the Week and is the first time earning Player of the Week. This is the third time this season a Valley athlete has swept the weekly honors, and is the sixth time in MVC history. The last time an Illinois State women's basketball player earned both honors was Kristi Cirone on Dec. 19, 2005.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• The Panthers sit third in the Valley, owning a 9-5 conference record, most recently falling to Drake on Friday 72-67.
• The Panthers hold the highest rebounding margin in the conference, outrebounding their opponents by 5.4.
• UNI has knocked down 192-of-616 (31.2%) from 3-point land this season. The 192 made 3-pointers this season ranks as the third-most in the MVC.
• Kennedy Kirkpatrick leads the Panthers in scoring, averaging 10.7 points per game. She makes 1.5 3-point field goals per game with a 30.9 percent average.
• Megan Maahs leads the Panthers and the Valley, with 10.3 rebounds per game. She also has the second most offensive rebounds in the Valley with 78 this season.
NEXT UP
The Redbirds finish their Iowa road trip in Des Moines on Sunday as Illinois State face the undefeated Drake Bulldogs.
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