NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team finishes the last two-game road swing of the season at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (13-14, 7-9) at Drake (20-7, 15-0)
When: Sunday, Feb. 25
Tip-Off: 2p.m.CT
THE SERIES
• The Redbirds are 35-42 overall when facing the Bulldogs. The 'Birds are 21-16 at home, 13-22 at Drake  and 1-4 at a neutral site.
• The teams most recently met on Jan. 26 and the 'Birds fell 65-58 in a back-and-forth affair.
• Coach Gillespie has previously met Coach Baranczyk in 2002 at the LMU Thanksgiving Classic in Los Angeles, California. Gillespie was working as a graduate assistant under the direction of legendary, Kay Yow at NC State and Coach Baranczyk was playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes. NC State defeated Baranczyk and the Hawkeyes 69-66 in overtime on Nov. 29, 2002. This will be the second time the two meet has head coaches.
REDBIRD BITS
• Illinois State enters the game after falling to the Northern Iowa Panthers in a tough battle on Friday night. The team was led by Viria Livingston with 13 points. Livingston shot 100 percent from the 3-point range, going 3-for-3.
• 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 - Livingston (6.4), Simone Goods, 6.2, Hannah Green (6.1).
• The Redbird defense continues to be the strongest in the Valley and sits 10th in the country for scoring defense, allowing 54.4 points per game. They also rank 12th in the nation for field-goal percentage defense holding opponents to an average of 35.3 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. Â
• 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. 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 BULLDOGS
• Drake most recently captured a 77-71 win over Bradley on Friday, automatically granting them shared rights of the MVC regular season title.
• If Drake defeats the Redbirds on Sunday it will clinch its second-consecutive outright MVC regular season title. The last time the Bulldogs won back-to-back outright MVC titles was the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.
• The program has secured 20 or more victories in each of the past three seasons. The last time Drake had four-consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins was 1996-2002 when it tallied six-straight.
• Drake continues to be an offensive power house, ranking first in the Valley averaging 82.7 points per game. The last time they faced the 'Birds it was an intense match up and a back-and-forth battle.
• Becca Hittner and Sara Rhine lead for the Bulldogs, averaging 15.5 and 15.1 points respectively. Their scoring efforts both rank in the top 10 in the Valley.
NEXT UP
The Redbirds finish regular season on rival turf at the Renaissance Coliseum on Saturday, March 3 as they face the Bradley Braves.
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