NORMAL, Ill. – Four newcomers scored in double figures as Illinois State women's basketball (3-1, 0-0 MVC) beat Saint Francis (3-4, 0-0 CCAC) to improve to 2-0 at home Sunday.
"I was really pleased with our effort," head coach Kristen Gillespie said. "The last few days we've challenged our team to embrace the hard and I think we took a big step forward in that category when it comes to rebounding, talking on screens and defense. I don't care who you are playing, that's what we want to become."
HIGHLIGHTS
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Caroline Waite led all scorers with 19 points in the game on 5-for-9 shooting from deep. Waite scored 16 points in the third quarter, hitting four from behind the arc. It was her third performance this year with 17-plus points in a single game.
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Three freshman reached double figures off the bench Sunday, led by Shannon Dowell's 12 points after a seven-point first quarter. Brooke Coffey notched 11 points while Savannah McGowan scored 10 for the Redbirds. It was Dowell and Coffey's first double-figure scoring outing of their college career. McGowan also reached double figures with 12 points in the Redbird season opener at Omaha Nov. 6.
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Abbie Aalsma notched a season-high 9 points and posted her best shooting performance of the year thus far. She went 3-for-4 from deep and tallied 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals to stuff the stat sheet.
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Dowell guided Illinois State to a 25-11 lead after the opening frame. Her 5-0 personal run helped the Redbirds to a 17-7 advantage, their first double-digit lead of the game, with 2:27 left in the quarter.
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Illinois State's freshman class scored 24 of the team's 39 first-half points as the Redbirds led 39-20 at the break. Dowell led all scorers with 10 while McGowan had 8, Coffey scored 4 and Molly Lenz had 2 points.
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Waite and the Redbirds outscored Saint Francis 29-13 in the third to build a 68-33 lead heading into the fourth. Illinois State hit six threes in the third including three straight to open the quarter as Aalsma hit a pair and Waite hit one. Waite went on to score 8 straight points for the Redbirds from 3:53 to 3:10 in the quarter.
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Lexi Boles finished the day with a career-high 7 points to lead Illinois State in the fourth quarter. Lauren Cohen checked in and hit her first three of the season to give Illinois State a 79-40 lead an all but end the in-state affair.
GAME NOTES
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The Redbirds won their 11th-straight game over an in-state foe, improving to 2-0 this season and 8-0 over the last two years against Land of Lincoln foes.
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It was Illinois State's third game this season scoring 85+ points. The Redbirds are averaging 86.5 points per game this year.
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Illinois State finished with four-plus double-figure scorers for the second time this year. The Redbirds had five double-figure scorers to open the year at Omaha.
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The Redbirds hit a season-high 12 threes, led by Waite (5) and Aalsma (3) who each hit three-plus in the game. Five different Redbirds hit from deep as Coffey, Cohen and Dowell also connected. It was the second time this year the Redbirds have hit 10-plus threes, joining the season opener at Omaha (10).
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Maya Wong finished the game with a season-high 8 assists to just one turnover. The performance was just one off tying her career high of nine assists from December of 2022.
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