NORMAL, Ill. – Fifth year guard Juliunn Redmond exploded for 18 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's game, finishing with a career-high 34 points in Illinois State's narrow loss to UNI, 74-67, at Redbird Arena.
Along with her 34 points, Redmond also added a season-high seven assists, three steals, two rebounds and one block while shooting 70% (14-of-20) from the floor. Junior DeAnna Wilson posted her seventh-career double-double in Thursday's game, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
The Panthers were led by senior Nicole Kroeger's 16 points and eight rebounds.
With the loss, the Redbirds fell to 10-9 overall and 6-2 in Missouri Valley Conference action while the Panthers improved to 11-6 and 4-2 in the MVC.
TURNING POINT
The Redbirds erased the nine-point lead the Panthers held heading into the final quarter, 48-39, outscoring UNI, 22-13, during the first 5:53 of the period to knot the score at 61-61 off a Kenzie Bowers layup. Redmond went a blazing 8-of-9 from the floor with 18 points in the fourth quarter to nearly complete the comeback, but the Panthers pulled away, making six free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- Redmond is the first player this year to record at least 34 points and seven assists in a game while shooting 70% (14-of-20) from the floor. The last Redbird to have 34+ points was Lexi Wallen who had 35 versus Loyola Chicago back in Feb. 2020.
- Redmond's 34 points is also the most by a Valley player in conference play this season. Evansville's Je'Naiya Davis is the only MVC student-athlete to post a higher scoring output so far during the 2021-22 campaign (Davis had 35 points vs. Purdue Fort Wayne on 11/24/21).
- With her fifth double-double of the season (20 points, 13 rebounds), Wilson is one of four MVC players to have at least five on the year (UE's Abby Feit, MSU's Jasmine Franklin and SIU's Abby Brockmeyer).
- Sophomore Kate Bullman collected nine rebounds and four blocks for the second game in a row. She currently ranks 16th all-time in career blocks at ISU with 44 blocks.
- UNI's 12 three-pointers in Thursday's game were tied for the most allowed by Illinois State this season (ISU allowed 12 at Sacramento State on 11/27/22). The Redbirds outrebounded the Panthers, 36-35, and outscored them in points in the paint, 40-28.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On the opponent: "I give credit to UNI. They are a well-coached team, and it was kind of the perfect storm of what our staff was most concerned about – that we needed to guard the three-point line. I thought we did an average to poor job in doing that. They took advantage and they were the better team tonight."
On Redmond's performance: "I can't remember a performance as good as this one. Her stat line is unbelievable, but what doesn't show is how she defended tonight. JuJu's growth and her commitment to that is making all the difference to our team."
UP NEXT
The 'Birds conclude this weekend's action on Saturday night, hosting Drake for their annual 'Pack the Arena" game. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. and admission is FREE for all fans.
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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