NORMAL, Ill. – In front of a program record home crowd of 7,581 fans Illinois State Women's Basketball (2-1, 0-0 MVC) got by visiting SIUE (1-3, 0-0 OVC) 90-86 Wednesday on Education Day at CEFCU Arena.
"It was a special environment today," head coach Kristen Gillespie said. "I can't thank our marketing department enough for all the work they did to help put that together. We don't get to play in front of that many fans often and our players deserve it."
HIGHLIGHTS
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DeAnna Wilson led Illinois State with 23 points and 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in the win. She secured Illinois State's first 20-point individual scoring outing of the year and her 12th as a Redbird.
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Caroline Waite also finished the day with a 20-point effort, going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc to score 20 points. She bookended the game with eight points and a pair of three-pointers in the first and fourth quarters.
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Maya Wong scored a career-high 19 points, finally surpassing her previous mark of 17 after tying it in each of the first two games of the season. Wong, who poured in 16 in the second half, added five assists and three rebounds.
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Kate Bullman grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds to lead the game. It is the most by a Valley player this season and is tied for the sixth-highest individual rebounding performance in all of NCAA D1 women's basketball this year.
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Illinois State trailed SIUE 11-10 before a 16-6 scoring run to end the first helped the Redbirds build a 26-17 cushion. Wilson put up seven in the second quarter and Illinois State took a 41-34 lead into the locker room.
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Wong scored nine points in the third as Illinois State built as much as a 15-point cushion. She went 2-for-2 from deep in the quarter, including one that gave Illinois State a 54-43 lead for the Redbirds' first double-figure advantage of the second half.
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The Cougars scored 36 points in the fourth, but Illinois State was able to hold off the strong surge. Wilson, Wong and Waite each scored 7-plus points in the quarter to secure a victory.
GAME NOTES
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The record crowd was the most for Illinois State in program history, surpassing last year's Education Day mark of 6,363. It was the most-ever for the program in a season opener and the first home crowd of 7,000+ in team history.
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Illinois State won its tenth straight game against an in-state foe. The Redbirds are 7-0 over the last two seasons against opponents from the state of Illinois.
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The Redbirds have scored 90-plus points in two of their first three games of a season for the first time in program history. Illinois State scored 105 to open the year at Omaha Nov. 6.
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It was the first time two Redbirds scored 20-plus points in the same game this season. The last Redbirds to do so were Wilson (26 points) and Paige Robinson (20) against Indiana State earlier this year in March.
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Wong has scored 15+ points in three straight games for the first time in her Illinois State career. She upped her season average to 17.6 points per game on the young season.
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Waite scored 20+ points for the first time as a Redbird and the 12th time in her college career.
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Bullman is the first Redbird since Wilson in March of 2022 to grab 15-plus rebounds in a single game. Wilson tallied 17 in a win over Bradley that day.
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