MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (16-8) defeated Samford (14-11), 68-62, in the WNIT Memphis Region consolation semifinals on Saturday afternoon and will now compete in the consolation final against UT Martin on Monday, March 22 at 4 p.m. CT.
Senior Juliunn Redmond paced the Redbirds in the win with 17 points, going 6-of-11 (54.5%) from the floor and adding five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a career-high three blocks.
Joining Redmond in double figures was Terrion Moore (14), Maya Wong (12) and Mary Crompton (10). Moore also led ISU with eight rebounds.
The win marks head coach Kristen Gillespie's first postseason victory as Illinois State now improves to 21-19 all-time in the WNIT.
Samford was led by Andrea Cournoyer who tallied 14 points in the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Samford jumped out to a 10-6 lead but Illinois State responded to take a 19-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A pair of three-pointers by Crompton and a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Maya Wong to start the second quarter gave ISU a 28-18 advantage. A three-point play by Redmond pushed the lead back out to 10 at 33-23 with three minutes to play in the first half. Moore knocked in two three-pointers to close the half and give the 'Birds a 39-30 halftime lead.
Sophomore DeAnna Wilson hit a jumper at the 8:08 mark of the third quarter to give Illinois State its largest lead of the contest at 44-30. The Bulldogs netted the game's next eight points but a Wong three-pointer extended the ISU lead to 55-46 after 30 minutes.
Samford came to within four points three times in the final 3:17 but came no closer as the 'Birds converted six free throws in the final three minutes to ice the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Today's win was ISU's first in postseason since March 21, 2013 when the Redbirds bested IUPUI at Redbird Arena, 63-47, in the WNIT.
- Crompton hit three triples to improve to 61 three-pointers on the year and to join the elite grouping of former Redbirds Katie Broadway and Kristi Cirone as the only ISU players to ever have multiple season with 60+ three-pointers.
- The Redbirds led for 35:09 of the game with the Redbird bench outscoring Samford's, 18-14.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
Overall thoughts on the game: "We made some big shots - we went into a little bit of a drought in the fourth quarter, though. I thought we shared the ball and rebounded the ball at key times… down the stretch we made enough plays and got enough stops [to win the game]. Coming into this game, we just wanted to play one more game, we wanted to extend our season once more. Now we have the opportunity to end our season on a win and that's something that really means a lot to our program."
UP NEXT:
ISU will take on UT Martin in the WNIT Memphis Region consolation final on Monday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on FloHoops.
For all the latest on Illinois State women's basketball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdWBB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
