LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Three days. Three games. It all came to culmination for Illinois State women's basketball Sunday as they faced off with host school UNLV in the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament Championship. However, for the first time this season, the Redbirds would fall as UNLV took a 73-66 win from the Cox Pavilion.
Maya Wong would get the scoring started for Illinois State as she netted a three-pointer at the 9:06 mark in the first to give ISU a 3-0 lead. However, from there, the Redbirds would be outscored by a margin of 9-2 over the next three minutes before Kate Bullman made it a two-point game at 5:49 with a layup of her own. The Lady Rebels defense was stifling from that moment on as the remainder of the period saw a 13-5 scoring margin in favor of the home team.
Another major difference in the first 10 minutes, as the Redbirds trailed by double digits (22-12) after the first frame, was UNLV forcing seven turnovers by ISU while only having three of their own.
The second quarter got started and Nneka Obiazor immediately built the lead to 13 (25-12) for the Lady Rebels only 11 seconds into the frame with a triple. As DeAnna Wilson and Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins did their best to cut into the UNLV lead and get ISU some momentum, the Lady Rebels would respond instantly as they built the lead back to 13 with 6:53 remaining.
Paige Robinson got her first shot attempt off at the 5:25 mark of the second quarter as she would knock down a triple before adding a jumper for five quick points and making the UNLV lead 12 (33-21) with 4:16 remaining. The Lady Rebels responded with five points of their own as they did not look to let up and lead by as many as 17 in the frame, including the 42-25 margin they would take into the break.
At the halftime break, ISU would be led by Paige Robinson's seven points while Robinson, DeAnna Wilson, and Mary Crompton would all gather two rebounds in the first 20 minutes. For the Lady Rebels, it was Nneka Obiazor leading the charge with nine points and four rebounds for the home team.
Right out of the break, it was Kate Bullman once more netting a layup to cut into the Lady Rebels' lead. UNLV would respond right back, but ISU would show consistent resiliency throughout the entire frame. DeAnna Wilson would be a major spot in the third for the Redbirds as she got underway with a layup at the 9:02 mark. From there, Wilson would score seven more points to make her third quarter total at nine. The other bright spot for ISU in the third quarter would be Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins who stepped up on both sides of the ball, including scoring five points and grabbing a pair of rebounds.
As the clock headed to the fourth, Wilson stepped up and nailed a jumper from the top of the box to make it a 12-point game as the game headed to the final frame.
Once the fourth got underway, Illinois State looked like a team on a mission, as they fought with everything they had to cut into the deficit. As Desi-Rae Young made a layup for the Lady Rebels at 9:20 to build the lead to 14, Maya Wong responded fourty-five seconds later to make it a 12-point lead with a pair of free throws.
3:57 remaining on the clock. This is when ISU ramped up its efforts as they trailed by 13. First, Paige Robinson would knock down a pair of free throws to trim the lead back to 12 at that point in the game. The Lady Rebels would knock down a triple right after, but Maya Wong made it a 13-point deficit before Paige Robinson made a jumper to make it an 11-point game with 3:04 remaining. Four more Redbird free throws made it 68-61 UNLV with 1:52 remaining. Then, the Redbirds would see Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins make a layup and trim the lead to five with 1:44 left.
The very next UNLV possession saw DeAnna Wilson take a pivotal charge and force Desi-Rae Young to foul out with 180 seconds left. However, from that moment forward, it would just be a matter of UNLV knocking down their free throws as they rebuilt the lead, eventually making it a 10-point margin. Maya Wong would knock down a last second three from halfcourt as that would trim the lead to the final seven-point differential.
For the Lady Rebels, Justice Etheridge led the way with 17 points as she would be one of four Lady Rebels to finish in double digits. In terms of rebounds, three Lady Rebels finished the night with seven rebounds (Desi-Rae Young, Alyssa Brown, and Nneka Obiazor).
As the UNLV Tournament Thanksgiving Tournament came to an end, Illinois State saw DeAnna Wilson and Paige Robinson named to the All-Tournament Team for their respective efforts.
IN THE BOX SCORE:
- The 25 turnovers for the Redbirds is the most by ISU since at Western Illinois (20) in December 2020.
- Four Redbirds end the night in double digits, led by Paige Robinson's 19. Robinson was joined in double digits by DeAnna Wilson's 13, Maya Wong's 14, and Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins' 10.
- The 5-1 start to the 2022-23 season matches the best program start as the Redbirds have started a season with a 5-1 record in five previous instances, most recently in 2019-20.
UP NEXT
Illinois State continues their road trip as they head to Saint Louis for a battle with the Billikens on Saturday, December 3. Tipoff from Chaifetz Arena between the programs is set for 7:00 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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