MOLINE, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team fell in a narrow 61-60 loss to Loyola Chicago in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday night at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill. With the loss, ISU falls to 15-7 on the season while Loyola Chicago improves to 11-12 and will go on to make the program's first-ever appearance in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon.
The Redbirds were led by 23 points by senior Juliunn Redmond, which tied her career-high in scoring. Redmond went 9-of-10 (90.0%) from the floor and 3-of-4 (75.0%) from behind the arc, nearly recording a double-double with nine rebounds and four assists.
Senior Paige Saylor joined Redmond in double figures, putting up 10 points and going a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Loyola's Allison Day had 23 points, five rebounds and three assists in the winning effort.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redbirds jumped out to a 12-6 lead through the first eight minutes of the first quarter, with junior Terrion Moore contributing five points during the run. Loyola Chicago battled back to finish the period on a 6-0 run and knot the score at 12-12.
The second quarter was another evenly-matched segment that put the Ramblers ahead with only a one-point, 26-25 advantage heading into the break. Redmond was responsible for eight of ISU's 13 total points in the second period.
Redmond continued her hot-streak into the third period, as she was 3-of-4 (75.0%) from the floor while knocking down two three-pointers to score 10 points in the quarter. The Redbirds as a whole were 8-of-11 (72.7%) in the third quarter and went into the final quarter with a one-point lead at 46-45.
The game came down to the final seconds as the score was tied, 60-60, for the last 1:13 of the game, before MVC Freshman of the Year Maya Chandler drew a foul with 1.6 seconds remaining to head to the charity stripe. Chandler sank the first free throw and then missed the second, giving ISU one last chance. The Redbirds used a timeout to move the ball up the floor and draw up a play, but were unable to get a shot up before the final buzzer.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Mary Crompton tied the program's sophomore three-point record with her second quarter triple, bringing her to 53 three-pointers on the season. Former Redbird Megan McCracken previously recorded 53 treys during her sophomore campaign in 2004-05.
- Redmond made her first seven field goals before missing her first shot in the third quarter. The senior finished a perfect 6-of-6 in two-point field goals and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
- Moore finished with five steals to make it her eighth game this season with 3+ steals.
- All 10 of Saylor's points came in the second half.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On the loss: "All the credit to Loyola. We knew it was going to be a grind-out game and that it was going to come down to the last couple of possessions. We just didn't do enough. We had that five-point lead and we had some really good looks. We had the ball right where we wanted it to go at the end and it just didn't work out for us this time."
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