MOLINE, Ill. – Fifth year Juliunn Redmond exploded for a game-high 29 points on Friday afternoon to lead fourth-ranked Illinois State (17-13, 12-6 MVC) to a 68-52 win over Loyola Chicago (18-12, 10-8 MVC) in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.
Redmond went 12-of-25 from the floor and a perfect 2-of-2 from behind the three-point line to bring her to 29 points on the day. Junior forward DeAnna Wilson finished with her eighth double-double of the season, recording 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Ramblers were led by sophomore guard Maya Chandler who ended with 12 points.
With the win, the Redbirds advance to Saturday's semifinal against top-seeded Southern Illinois at 1:30 p.m. CT.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redbirds limited the Ramblers to just four points in the first quarter, holding them scoreless for the final 6:30 of the period to jump out to a 16-4 lead at the break.
Loyola started the second quarter on a 9-0 run to get within three, 16-13, during the first 2:30 of the period. ISU answered with three-pointers courtesy of Kate Bullman and Kayel Newland to go on a 12-3 run of their own and finish the half with an 11-point, 29-18 lead.
The teams traded baskets early in the third period prior to Loyola going on a 11-2 run that brought them within two points, 34-32. Redmond scored the next eight points and the Redbirds led 42-33 at the end of the third.
Redshirt junior Mary Crompton successfully converted a four-point play, getting fouled on a triple and draining the free throw, to bring ISU to its largest lead of the game, 52-37, with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter. The Ramblers got as close as eight with 5:00 left but got no closer.
IN THE BOX SCORE
- Illinois State improves to 24-26 all-time in the Valley Tournament, including 11-12 in quarterfinal round games. The Redbirds will make their first appearance in the MVC semifinals on Saturday since the 2018-19 campaign.
- Redmond surpassed Susan Wellman and Juli Stiles to move into 22nd amongst ISU's all-time scoring leaders with 1,168 career points. The Chicago-native also has improved to 507 points this year and 18th place in ISU's single-season scoring list, passing Emily Hanley who scored 495 points in 2010-11.
- Crompton's fourth quarter three-pointer brought her to 68 on the year, tying her own mark she had previously set during the 2019-20 season for fourth all-time in triples in a single season. Crompton currently has the No. 4 (2x) and No. 9 spots on the Redbird single-season three-point list and is third on the ISU career three-pointers list with 208.
QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH KRISTEN GILLESPIE
On the opponent: "Just want to give credit to Loyola. We mirror each other in a lot of different ways. We knew we were going to have our hands full and that they were going to be prepared. There's a lot of memories from last year. As a coach and a competitor, you try not to think about that but they were the ones to end our dream last year and I think our group – especially [Redmond and Wilson] – willed us to win."
On Redmond's performance: "She's been on a tear in conference play. If you look back on this last month, this performance was par for the course. I don't want to speak for her, but Ju came back this year for a reason. There are important team goals she came back for, and she wants to help this group accomplish that in whatever way possible."
UP NEXT
The 'Birds take on regular season champions Southern Illinois in tomorrow's semifinal. Tip-off versus the Salukis is set for 1:30 p.m. CT at the TaxSlayer Center and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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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