MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (15-8) fell in the opening round game in the WNIT to Tulane on Friday evening, 75-67, in Memphis, Tenn. The Redbirds will now take on Samford at 2 p.m. CT tomorrow in the WNIT consolation bracket.
Redshirt sophomore Mary Crompton finished with a team-high 19 points en route to setting a new sophomore program three-point record as she improves to 58 threes on the year. Crompton, who already owns the freshman three-point record, also recorded a season-high three steals, three rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore DeAnna Wilson posted the second double-double of her career, finishing with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, also the most boards any Redbird has collected this year.
All five ISU starters finished in double figures with junior Terrion Moore posting 12 points and three assists, senior Juliunn Redmond adding 11 points and five boards and senior Paige Saylor contributing 10 points, including going 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Tulane (18-8) was led by Arsula Clark who recorded 21 points, four rebounds and five assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Crompton nailed a trio of first-quarter three-pointers to push the Redbirds out to a 22-13 lead--it's largest advantage of the contest--before the Green Wave closed the gap to 22-19 through 10 minutes.
Tulane retook the lead at 29-28 with 2:39 left in the first half, but a three-point play from Wilson and jumper by Moore put ISU up 33-29 at the intermission.
Illinois State was outscored 23-8 in the third quarter, shooting a frigid 2-of-15 (13.3%) while Tulane was an impressive 8-of-13 (61.5%) in the period.
A basket by junior Lexy Koudelka at the 2:40 mark was ISU's first made field goal of the third quarter as the 'Birds trailed 46-37 following the basket before the Green Wave led 52-41 after 30 minutes.
Tulane took its largest lead of the game at 63-47 with 5:33 remaining. The Redbirds cut the deficit to eight on three occasions in the final 1:30 but were unable to recover draw any closer.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Despite holding a 16-4 advantage in offensive rebounds, ISU outscored Tulane just 18-10 in second-chance points
- Wilson's 10 offensive rebounds are tied for the most ever recorded in a WNIT game by a Redbird. Marla Maupin also grabbed 10 offensive boards back in ISU's win over Utah in 1984.
- Wilson's career-high 14 rebounds are also tied for the second-most boards recorded in a WNIT game by an ISU player, matching Lashawn Johnson (vs. Rice, 2007) and Kenyatta Shelton (vs. Central Michigan, 2011). The Redbird record for rebounds in a WNIT game is 15 set by ISU legend Cathy Boswell in ISU's first-ever WNIT game against North Carolina in 1980.
- With five three-pointers in today's contest, Crompton flew past the Redbird sophomore three-point record and now sits at 58 on the season. Megan McCracken had formerly owned the record, hitting 53 treys during the 2004-05 campaign.
- Crompton is currently tied for 12th all-time in single-season three-pointers with 58. Katie Broadway holds that record with 89 triples drained during the 2011-12 season.
- Crompton's five threes in today's game are tied for the second-most by a Redbird in a WNIT game with Candace Sykes who also hit five triples against Central Michigan in 2012. The record is six three-pointers that Cindy Kaufman recorded versus Miami in 1990.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
Overall thoughts on the game: "I thought we had some pretty good looks, but when you shoot 13% [in the third quarter], it's going to be hard to win. It was the difference – we shoot 13% in the third quarter and they shoot 62%. I think if we make some of those shots it's a different game, but that's just the way it goes. Our keys coming into this game were rebounding the ball, which I thought we were outstanding, and taking care of the ball. You'd think with those two things, we would win. The thing we couldn't control was whether that ball was gonna go in the basket and that's what got us."
On game tomorrow: "We've got another opportunity to compete tomorrow and extend our season and that's what our focus will be on now."
UP NEXT: ISU is now in the consolation bracket and will take on Samford at 2 p.m. CT tomorrow. The winner of that game will go on to the WNIT Memphis Region Consolation Championship game on Monday.
For all the 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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