EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Illinois State (7-7, 3-0 MVC) used a season-best 28 points in the third quarter of Sunday's contest versus Evansville (7-7, 1-2 MVC) to overcome a halftime deficit and take down the Purple Aces on the road, 86-67. With their fourth consecutive win, the Redbirds improve to 3-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play while Evansville falls to 1-2 in MVC action.
Redshirt junior Mary Crompton had a career-high 22 points, shooting a blistering 6-of-7 from behind the arc. Junior DeAnna Wilson finished with 21 points, 18 of which she tallied during ISU's second half comeback. Wilson and freshman Kenzie Bowers led the 'Birds on the boards, recording eight rebounds each.
Also ending in double figures for the Redbirds was Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor (13) and Juliunn Redmond (10).
Abby Feit was the leading scorer for the Purple Aces, totaling 17 points on the night.
TURNING POINT
After the Purple Aces closed the second quarter on a 19-4 run to take a 39-34 lead at halftime, Illinois State came out hot in the third quarter, retaking the lead at the 5:14 mark on the first of three-straight threes for Crompton that put the 'Birds up, 54-50, at the media timeout.
ISU never relinquished the lead from that point on, shooting 63.3% from the floor in the second half and building the lead up to 21 points with 2:18 remaining in the fourth quarter.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- Crompton's six three-pointers tied her career-high which she has matched on four previous occasions, the last of which was earlier this season at UC Irvine (Nov. 26). The Iowa City, Iowa native has drained multiple triples in 12 of 14 games this year and in ISU's last eight contests.
- McGinnis-Taylor's 13 points off the bench were a career-high, along with Bowers' eight rebounds.
- The 'Birds posted their second-best shooting performance of the season, finishing with a 55.9% field goal percentage that trailed only their outing at St. Thomas (56.9%, Nov. 13).
- Illinois State's 3-0 record in the Valley is its best start in conference play since the 2007-08 campaign in which the Redbirds went 8-0 to begin MVC action.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE:
On the opponent: "I have to give Evansville all the credit. They played really well in that first half and we did not. They were very physical and brought out a press that really bothered us, but I thought we settled in during the second found our footing."
On ISU's balanced attack: "It's starting to be really fun. DeAnna took control in the second half and Mary is shooting the ball really well. The contributions we had from players like Kate Bullman, Kenzie Bowers and Jasmine McGinnis-Taylor today were so key and will be important going forward. It's exciting. I think we're starting to see glimpses of who we can become."
UP NEXT
ISU returns home this week to host Valparaiso on Thursday and Loyola Chicago on Saturday at Redbird Arena. Both games are slated for 6 p.m. CT tips and will be streamed on ESPN+/3.
For all 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.
