NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (2-6) battled back from a 15-point halftime deficit to tie the game in the final minute of the third quarter, but ultimately fell short, 78-67, to Dayton (6-2) at Redbird Arena on Sunday.
Fifth year Juliunn Redmond recorded her second 20+ point performance of the year, finishing with game highs in points (22) and rebounds (8). Redshirt junior Mary Crompton ended with 16 points, tallying 14 of them in the second half and 11 of which came during ISU's third quarter rally.
Redshirt sophomore Maya Wong paced the Redbirds early, scoring nine of her 13 points in the first quarter. Wong also corralled a career-high seven rebounds and dished out four assists in the contest.
The Flyers were led by the duo of Erin Whalen and Makira Cook, who scored 18 and 17 points on the day, respectively.
TURNING POINT
Offensive struggles by the Redbirds in the second quarter, that included an 11-0 run by the Flyers midway through and Illinois State being unable to score a field goal for the final 5:58 of the half, saw ISU trail by 15 entering halftime, 44-29.
Illinois State surged after the break, outscoring Dayton, 25-12, in the third period and tying the game with 17 seconds to go before UD's Cook snuck in a lay-up just before the buzzer sounded. Crompton found her rhythm in the final three minutes of the quarter, draining three triples in that span and going 3-of-5 from deep in the period.
The Flyers regained their lead, quickly scoring seven points to begin the fourth quarter which was only broken up by a pair of Redmond free throws. The Redbirds got as close as within four points at 67-63 off a Crompton three-pointer with 4:34 remaining, but were ultimately unable to close the gap with the Flyers.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- Dayton, who entered today's game shooting 35.4% from behind the arc on the season, shot 10-of-18 (55.5%) from deep on the day.
- Redmond's 22 points in today's contest was her eighth career 20+ point performance and her second in the last three games.
- Sophomore Kate Bullman led the team in blocks (2) for the second game in a row.
- With her team-high four dimes today, Wong has been ISU's assist leader in three of eight games this season.
- ISU's 25 points in the third period was the most they've scored in a quarter against a Division I opponent during the 2021-22 campaign.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On the opponent: "We faced a really tough Dayton team. They returned all their starters from last year when they won their league and made postseason. They are extremely well-coached and we knew today's game was going to be a challenge."
On the team's performance: "I was proud of our effort and that we remained engaged and in the game. We had some lulls but were able to work ourselves back in and rallied. In the first half they shot 10-for-13 from the three – which is unbelievable – and I thought for the most part we guarded pretty well. We were right there and I'm really proud of us for that."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will take a few days off for finals week before heading to Edwardsville next Saturday, Dec. 11 to take on the SIUE Cougars. Tip-off at First Community Arena is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
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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