It All Comes Down to This

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team will battle the Bradley Braves for the MVC sixth seed as they head into the Valley tournament next week. The Redbirds have not finished in the top six since the 2012-13 season when the team captured a 13-5 conference record and earned the No. 3 seed. The Redbirds are one game ahead of the Braves, but a loss would result in a tie. The first tiebreaker would be head-to-head. Illinois State dropped to Bradley earlier in the season, so a loss would end in favor for the Braves.   

GAME INFORMATION
Illinois State Redbirds (13-15, 7-10) at Bradley (12-16, 6-11)

When: Saturday, March 3

Tip-Off: 2 p.m.CT

Watch: http://es.pn/2oxUTtb

THE SERIES

• The Redbirds are 47-25 overall when facing the Braves. The 'Birds are 25-10 at home, 19-15 at Bradley and 3-0 at a neutral site.

• The teams most recently met on Dec. 31 in Redbird Arena and the 'Birds fell 62-42.

• This is the second time Coach Gillespie and Coach Gorski will meet.

REDBIRD BITS

• Illinois State enters the game after most recently falling to the Drake Bulldogs 80-64. Hannah Green led all scorers with 22 points, which tied her career high.   

• The last time the program secured 13 or more wins and finished in a top six seed of the tournament was in the 2012-13 season.

• Three Redbirds are in the top ten of the Valley for rebounding – Viria Livingston (6.4), Simone Goods, 6.1, Green (6.0).

• The Redbird defense continues to be the strongest in the Valley and sits 15th in the country for scoring defense, allowing 55.4 points per game. They also rank 29th in the nation for field-goal percentage defense holding opponents to an average of 36.3 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.  

• 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 last 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 BRAVES

• Bradley sits seventh in the Valley with one game behind the Redbirds, owning a 6-11 conference record.

• The Braves are led by freshman Gabi Haack. Haack averages 10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 28.3 minutes of playing time.

• The team most recently faced the UNI Panthers and fell 63-50. Junior Vanessa Markert led the Braves with 16 points and 5 boards.
• The Braves have won five-straight home games against the Illinois State Redbirds.

• Bradley leads the Valley in blocked shots, averaging 4.1 rejections per game. Markert and Chelsea Brackmann are each in the top 10 in the conference for blocked shots per game, averaging 1.2 and 1.1 respectively.

BATTLE FOR ILLINOIS

Four in-state university basketball programs have the opportunity to earn bragging rights to a new trophy as the "Battle for Illinois" rivalry series was introduced by the respective athletic departments for Bradley, Illinois State, Loyola and Southern Illinois.  Both men's and women's basketball teams for the four universities will accrue points in featured head-to-head competition only. One point will be earned for each win. In the event of a tie, the following will determine the Battle for Illinois winner: 1) Head-to-head record among the tied schools; 2) regular-season conference record; 3) overall regular-season record (conference and non-conference); 4) combined tournament wins; 5) average margin of victory (rivalry series games).

NEXT UP

Depending on the results of Saturday's game, the Redbirds will play on Thursday or Friday of next week as they head to the Missouri Valley Tournament.

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