CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (9-8, 5-1 MVC), dropped its first Missouri Valley Conference game of the season on Thursday evening, falling on the road at Southern Illinois (9-6, 4-1 MVC), 56-47.
Fifth year Juliunn Redmond finished with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds, with redshirt junior Mary Crompton and redshirt sophomore Maya Wong each adding 12 of their own.
Graduate student Abby Brockmeyer nearly had a double-double for the Salukis, totaling a game-best 21 points paired with 9 rebounds.
TURNING POINT
Frigid-shooting plagued the Redbirds from the start, as ISU opened the game 1-of-9 from the floor, with their first field goal not coming until the 6:18 mark, courtesy of Redmond. Illinois State rallied back to knot the score,10-10, at the quarter, as Wong scored on each of ISU's last three possessions of the period to tally six points.
Another cold-spell to begin the second quarter doomed the Redbirds, as Southern Illinois led the remainder of the game, pulling away for a 16-point lead midway through the third period. The 'Birds surged in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Salukis, 16-11, in the period and getting within single-digits off a Kayel Newland triple at 50-42 with 4:53 remaining, but were unable to complete the comeback.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- Coming off the bench, senior Kayel Newland went a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, ending with seven points and six rebounds. Newland also became ISU's active career leader in games played, appearing in the 90th game of her career Thursday evening.
- Crompton's lone three-pointer of the game put her at 183 career triples and moved her into a tie for fourth place in ISU's all-time career three-point field goal leaders with former Redbird Jaci McCormack.
- Sophomore Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor finished one rebound shy of her career high with seven boards on the night.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On ISU's setback: "We just weren't ready to play and that's so disappointing. Against a team like this who starts four seniors, three of which are fifth years, and plays really well at home – they're always going to be ready and we just weren't. We didn't control what we needed to control and we let it slip away."
UP NEXT
The Redbirds continue on their road trip, taking on Missouri State on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 2 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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