NORMAL, Ill. – It only comes once a year, but no matter the time of year, Education Day is always one of the biggest highlights of the Illinois State women's basketball season. The 2022 edition of Education Day on Tuesday was no different, as the Redbirds got back on the winning track with a 66-51 win over the UMSL Tritons.
The major note of Tuesday's contest came as a 12-year-old WBB home attendance record was broken as 6,363 students, faculty, administrators, and fans piled into CEFCU to watch the Redbirds in action. Prior to Tuesday, the home attendance record stood at 6,075 which was set during the 2010 WNIT for ISU when California paid Normal a visit. The highest home game attendance under head coach Kristen Gillespie came in December 2018 when ISU hosted 3,500 fans for their game against Saint Louis.Â
The Redbirds would get on the board first, thanks to a Kate Bullman three-pointer only 16 seconds into the game. Bullman would then follow that up on the opposite side with a block and defensive rebound to keep the Tritons off the board. The first UMSL points came at 8:06 when Kiara Stewart made a jumper inside the paint. Once Normal's own, Maya Wong, knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 5-2 Redbirds, UMSL responded with five straight points to hold a 7-5 lead with 6:46 remaining.
However, ISU would not be outdone as they went on their own 8-0 run to spread their lead to 13-7 near the five-minute mark of the first quarter. The first quarter media timeout came shortly after, and the Redbirds looked to continue their momentum as they scored eight of the next 11 points to maintain a 19-13 lead. Despite everything UMSL would do, ISU would respond as they held a 23-15 lead after the first 10 minutes.
UMSL was on fire to start the second quarter, scoring five straight points and trimming the Redbird lead down to three with 7:49 in the half. However, once again, the home team responded and scored eight out of the game's next 10 points to build their largest lead of the game at nine with 5:42 remaining in the second.
Out of the second quarter media timeout, the ISU lead would grow to as many as 12 off a Mary Crompton three-pointer at 1:14 in the quarter. UMSL would knock down a free throw to make it an 11-point game, but an and-one situation from Paige Robinson at the end of the second quarter made it a 14-point (41-27) game at the half.
At the halftime break, Paige Robinson led the Redbirds with 10 points as well as the Bethany native held four rebounds and four assists to her name. Kate Bullman would be the leading rebounder for ISU at the break, as the Grayslake native pulled in six rebounds over the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, for UMSL, Kiara Stewart led the way with six points as both Jalysa Stokes and Olivia Mezan pulled in three rebounds to lead the Tritons.
The third quarter saw the two programs trade some early points as the ISU lead fluctuated from 15 to 13 all the way up to 17, capped off by a DeAnna Wilson jumper at the 8:20 mark in the third. UMSL's Jalysa Stokes responded immediately as she tried to keep the margin close for her side, but after her make at 7:52, the Tritons would go scoreless for nearly three minutes (4:13) as Morgan Ramthun knocked down a jumper.
In that scoreless span for UMSL, ISU would build upon their lead off a three-pointer from Maya Wong at 6:39 and another DeAnna Wilson layup at 4:28 to hold a 20-point edge over the visitors. After Ramthun's jumper to make it 51-33, the remaining 4:13 of the third quarter saw ISU nearly outscore UMSL 9-7 as the frame came to an end with ISU up 60-40.
The fourth quarter started and after the Tritons made it an 18-point game with 9:08 remaining, Robinson stepped up once more to make it 63-42 with a three-pointer of her own. Then, with 4:41 remaining, head coach Kristen Gillespie took the opportunity to sub in Jada Stinson, Hannah Kelle, and Lauren Cohen as the Redbirds led 65-44 at that moment.
Both sides would remain scoreless until another round of ISU subs were made at 3:20 in the fourth, including sophomore Chloe Van Zeeland, making her first in-game appearance for ISU during the 2022-23 season. Van Zeeland would get right to work as she attempted a layup shortly after entering but was unable to convert. The Tritons would score seven of the next eight points, as ISU sealed the win with a pair of free throws from Cohen to take the 15-point win in front of the home crowd Tuesday.
The Tritons were led on Tuesday by Jalysa Stokes' 13 points to go along with six rebounds from the guard to lead the team in the category as well. A pair of UMSL athletes finished in double figures as Stokes was joined by Kiara Stewart's 10 points on the afternoon. *NOTE: UMSL treated Tuesday as an exhibition for their season so Tuesday's stats will not affect the 2022-23 statistics for the Tritons*
IN THE BOX SCORE:
- A trio of Redbirds finished the afternoon in double figures, led by Paige Robinson's 20. Joining Robinson in double figures were Maya Wong with 12 as DeAnna Wilson contributed 12 points herself. On the glass, it was Kate Bullman leading the charge as she finished Tuesday with nine boards.
- Chloe Van Zeeland would play the final three minutes of Tuesday's contest, making her first appearance in 2022-23, as she finished with four boards on the afternoon.
- The 15 Redbird assists is the most in a game this season since ISU held 16 assists in their win over Wisconsin on 11/20/22.
UP NEXT
Illinois State is back on the road as they head to their final non-conference road stop when the Redbirds head to West Lafayette, Indiana on Sunday. ISU will go head-to-head with their second Big Ten school of the 2022-23 season, facing off with the Purdue Boilermakers, with tipoff set for 1:00 p.m. CT on Sunday. Â
In their series history against the Boilermakers, Illinois State has gone 6-4 all-time including holding a 3-1 record on the road against Purdue. The Redbirds will look to avenge last season's 76-64 loss at home when they hit the road this weekend.
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:Â Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
