EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Fifth year Juliunn Redmond turned in a career-high 30 points to lead the Illinois State women's basketball team (3-6) to a 80-71 victory over SIUE (4-5) at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Ill. on Saturday afternoon.
Redmond, who has now scored 20+ points in three of the last four games, scored 18 of her 30 points in the final quarter. The Chicago-native also finished with four rebounds and three assists.
Redshirt sophomore Maya Wong had 13 points paired with a career-high eight assists, the most by a Redbird this season. Junior DeAnna Wilson recorded her second double-double of the year (and fourth of her career) with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
TURNING POINT
The Redbirds jumped out to an early 13-4 lead in the first quarter and never relented, leading throughout the entire game. The Cougars were able to close the gap to just two points at 43-41 following a Mikayla Kinnard jumper in the third quarter, before the Redbirds rallied and built their lead back up to 10 points, their largest lead of the game with 10 seconds to go in the fourth period.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- The Redbirds shot 55.6% (30-of-56) from the floor while holding the Cougars to 38.7% (24-of-62) shooting.
- Redshirt junior Mary Crompton finished with 11 points, going 3-of-4 from behind the arc. She is averaging 2.7 three-pointers per game during the 2021-22 season and has hit multiple threes in seven of nine games on the year. Crompton is just six three-pointers away from moving into fifth place on ISU's all-time career three-point field goal list.
- The last time a Redbird scored 30+ points was on Feb. 14, 2020 when Lexi Wallen had 35 points in a 2OT win at home over Loyola Chicago.
- ISU outrebounded SIUE, 38-31, and had a 46-20 advantage in points in the paint.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On the opponent: "They play so hard and they're so scrappy. Sam [Quigley] has done such an outstanding job and you have got to give them all the credit. This was a solid road win."
On the team's performance: "We executed our sets and we did what we needed to do. It's no secret this team needed this success. I was so pleased with some things that our team did against Dayton and this was great carryover. We're continuing to build momentum."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds are back in action on Thursday, as Illinois State travels up to Madison, Wis. to battle its second Big Ten opponent of the season in Wisconsin. Tip-off at the Kohl Center is set for 6:30 p.m.
For all latest on Illinois State women's basketball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdWBB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
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