CARBONDALE, Ill, – Led by a career-high performance from Kate Bullman, the Illinois State women's basketball program (9-5, 3-1 MVC) handed a conference opponent their first MVC loss of the season as they defeated Southern Illinois (6-7, 3-1 MVC) Saturday by a final of 59-56.
Saturday's win marks the first win for Illinois State on the road against the Salukis since Feb. 5, 2021. The Redbirds came into Saturday with two straight road losses from the Banterra Center.
After a slow start thanks in part to the Salukis defense, Paige Robinson stepped up in a massive way, leading all Saturday scorers with 15 points. The Bethany native also added six rebounds and five assists to her stat line Saturday. The other Redbirds in double figures would be DeAnna Wilson with 12 and Maya Wong with 11.
However, the story of the afternoon was Grayslake native Kate Bullman, who grabbed a new career-high 14 rebounds including nine defensive rebounds.
Four Salukis ended the afternoon in double figures, led by Ashley Jones' 12 points to go along with her three assists. Southern Illinois also saw Quierra Love finish with 11 points to go along with 10 points from both Shemera Williams and Promise Taylor, respectively.
There would be 11 ties and eight lead changes in Saturday's contest.
TURNING POINT
As the teams battled back-and-forth with the lead in the second half, it would be the fourth quarter which played the difference for the second straight game. The Redbirds entered the final frame with a seven-point lead, but Southern Illinois would trim the deficit to one with 7:10 remaining in the game.
Paige Robinson would step up and knock down a pivotal three-pointer nearly a minute and a half later to give ISU a 47-43 lead as the media timeout came and went. From there, ISU would build the game out to at least a five-point lead, but it would be Southern Illinois' Shemera Williams stepping up to knot the game at 53 with a game-tying three and 1:45 remaining.
The Salukis would eventually take a two-point lead with only 37 seconds remaining, thanks to a Quierra Love three-pointer. Then, once ISU was back on offense, it would be Robinson once more stepping up and knocking down another three, giving ISU a one-point edge as the clock winded down.
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After the Salukis turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play, Robinson stepped up and knocked down a pair of free throws to secure the road weekend sweep for the Redbirds.
IN THE BOX SCORE:
- With three athletes in double figures (Robinson, Wilson, Wong), ISU sees this feat for the first time since playing at home against UMSL on 12/6/22
- The Redbirds shot 36.7% from the field while the Salukis finished with a mark of 36.4% on the afternoon.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Mary Crompton
- Most assists (4) since at UNLV on 11/27/22
- Kate Bullman
- New career-high 14 rebounds
- Previous career-high was 13 against Valparaiso on 1/13/22
- The Grayslake native moves her career total to 92 career blocks; only three behind Cathy Boswell for fifth-all time with 95.
- Paige Robinson
- Scored in double figures for the 13th consecutive game, only scoring in single figures (9 points) in the season opener at Dayton.
- Scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half after only holding two points at the half.
UP NEXT
The 'Birds are back in action as they continue their four game road trip with an I-74Â rivalry Thursday. The Redbirds head to face Bradley with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off from Peoria. Â
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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