VALPARAISO, Ind. – Led by the hot hand of Paige Robinson and another strong night from DeAnna Wilson, Illinois State women's basketball (14-5, 8-1 MVC) continued their Valley-best win streak, pushing it to seven straight after defeating Valparaiso (3-15, 1-8 MVC) by a final score of 78-46 Friday night.
As part of the Redbird win, redshirt junior Maya Wong surpassed 200 career assists as a Redbird, finishing the night with a team-high six assists.
The Redbirds also saw junior Kate Bullman gather another block in her ISU career, moving her career total to 97 as she now sits in sole possession of fourth all-time in Redbird WBB history.
Friday night saw two Redbirds finish in double figures, as Robinson (game-high 23 points) was joined by Wilson who saw 17 points off 6-9 shooting including a near-perfect 5-6 from the charity stripe.
Wilson would gather a team-leading seven rebounds against the Beacons. Finally, a quartet of athletes (Bullman, Wong, Robinson, and Kelle) all secured a block.
The Beacons were led by Ali Saunders, who finished with 13 points off 4-7 shooting. Leah Earnest grabbed a team-leading five rebounds, as Saunders dished out a team-high four assists as well.
TURNING POINT
Illinois State leads 12-2 as the first quarter media timeout hits with 4:49 remaining in the first frame. From there, the Redbirds would outscore the Beacons 11-4 over the remainder of the quarter to hold a 17-point lead (23-6) after 10 minutes.
The lead continued to grow for the visitors as, over the first 4:30 minutes of the second quarter, ISU outscored Valpo 8-2 to lead 31-8 and looked to have the game in firm control. The remaining portion of the second quarter (5:33) saw the Redbird lead grow to as many as 28 before the Redbirds took a 44-19 lead into the half.
The 19 points for the Beacons marks the first time an ISU opponent has scored less than 20 points in a half since Belmont did so in the January 15 meeting from the Curb Event Center.
IN THE BOX SCORE:
- Illinois State's 32-point win matches the largest margin of victory in an MVC regular season contest under Kristen Gillespie; (last Sunday v. Evansville).
- Illinois State held 18 assists on 27 made field goals Friday
- Illinois State won the rebound battle Friday night 39-23 including 29 defensive rebounds.Â
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Lauren Cohen
- Scored a career-high six points over a season-high 11 minutes
- Paige Robinson
- 16th time scoring in double figures this season
- 9th time scoring 20+ (first back-to-back games since UMSL and Purdue)
- DeAnna Wilson
- 12th time finishing in double figures this seasonÂ
UPÂ NEXT
The 'Birds conclude their road trip with a return to Illinois to face the UIC Flames for the first time as MVC foes Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. from Credit Union 1 Arena.
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.
