NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (8-7, 4-0 MVC) rolled to its fifth win in a row on Friday evening, taking down Valparaiso (4-12, 2-3 MVC), 65-49, at Redbird Arena.
Sophomore Kate Bullman neared a triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks, three assists and three steals, all of which were career-highs for the Grayslake, Ill.-native.
Junior DeAnna Wilson led ISU in scoring for the fourth time this season, putting up 18 points paired with four rebounds. Redshirt junior Mary Crompton also ended in double figures with 13 points.
The Beacons were led by fifth year Grace White's 16 points.
TURNING POINT
After finishing the first quarter with a narrow 14-13 advantage, the Redbirds used a 13-0 run midway through the second quarter that included three-point field goals from Bullman, Crompton and fifth year Juliunn Redmond to pull away from the Beacons.
Valpo was limited to only one field goal the final 8:18 of the half and came no closer than the halftime difference of nine points at 31-20. ISU built the advantage to as many as 25 points with 5:08 left in the fourth period prior to settling at the final 65-49 score.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- Bullman's six blocks were the most by a Redbird since Hannah Green had eight at Missouri State on Jan. 20, 2017, which is also the program's single game block record.
- Crompton has made multiple triples in 13 of 15 games this season, which is third-most in the country. The Iowa City, Iowa-native trails Oklahoma's Taylor Robertson (15 games) and Ohio State's Taylor Mikesell (14 games) in contests with 2+ treys during the 2021-22 campaign.
- Illinois State held Valpo to its second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season (32.6%) and also forced a season-high 26 turnovers by the Beacons.
- Illinois State's 4-0 record in the Valley is its best start in conference play since the 2007-08 season in which the Redbirds went 8-0 to begin MVC action.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On ISU's fifth-straight victory: "I could not be more proud of my team. I thought this was by far the best defensive effort of the season and probably one of the better since we've been here. It's funny because I think that was a knock on our team earlier in the year - could we guard - and they [Valpo] are especially tough to guard playing five guards and having our posts have to guard out on the perimeter. They really bought in to the scout and this is huge for us to take care of business on our home court while playing exceptionally well."
On Bullman's performance: "No one in the locker room is surprised because we see her in practice and we know her skill set. She struggled early on but she embraced it, stayed the course and put her head down and kept working. As a coach, you want to see someone have success like that. If you look back over our last four games in Valley play, she has made a huge difference for us on both sides of the floor."
UP NEXT
ISU will host Loyola Chicago on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. CT for its weekend finale.
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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