NORMAL, Ill. – DeAnna Wilson's 18-point second half lifted Illinois State Women's basketball (8-3, 1-0 MVC) over hot-shooting Bradley (4-8, 0-1 MVC) Saturday as the Redbirds won their MVC opener for the third straight season.
HIGHLIGHTS:
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Wilson tied her career-high with 26 points on the night after her big second half. It was her third 20-plus point performance of the season.
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Maya Wong and Shannon Dowell were the other two Redbirds to reach double figures in the win. Wong tallied 11 points and hit a clutch three-pointer in the fourth quarter that gave Illinois State a 61-58 lead with 5:27 to go that the Redbirds never surrendered. Dowell reached double figures for the second straight game, scoring 8 of her 10 points in the second half.
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Bradley shot 14-27 from deep (51.9 percent) and was led by 34 points from Halli Poock.
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The Braves started hot and stayed hot, going 6 for their first 10 from deep to take a 29-21 second-quarter lead. Wilson led a 10-2 run to tie the game at 31 with 2:57 left in the first half. Wong set up a pair of buckets as Wilson scored six of Illinois State's 10 points in the scoring surge to force a Braves timeout.
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Bradley answered with an 8-2 run to take a 39-33 advantage into the lockeroom. Halli Poock led the Braves with 15 points in the first half as Bradley shot 7-for-13 (53.8 %) from behind the arc.
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Wilson scored Illinois State's first 10 points to reach 18 for the night and Illinois State tied the game at 43 to open the third quarter. The Braves responded though with a 10-2 run that put Bradley back ahead 53-45 at 4:01 in the third.
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Illinois State scored seven straight, highlighted by a 5-0 personal surge from Aaslma, to cut the Bradley lead to 53-52 heading into the fourth.
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Dowell's fastbreak layup to open the fourth quarter gave Illinois State their first lead since the first quarter. Both sides traded blows before Wong's three put Illinois State up for good at the 5:27 mark. Her three kickstarted an 11-2 run that helped Illinois State mount a 69-60 lead over the Braves.
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Bradley wouldn't go away as Illinois State's advantage was trimmed all the way down to 76-74 with under five seconds to play. The Redbirds held off the surging Braves for the win.
NOTES
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Wilson put up the fourth 25-plus point performance of her career, and her first since setting a career high of 26 against Indiana State back in March of last season.
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Dowell has scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in her collegiate career. It was the fourth double-figure performance of her short career.
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Wilson grabbed six rebounds, moving her Illinois State career total to 700. She is the tenth player in program history to grab 700 career rebounds.
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Illinois State won its 13th straight game over an in-state foe. The Redbirds are 10-0 over the last two seasons against Land of Lincoln foes.
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It was Illinois State's seventh-straight victory over Bradley, which is Illinois State's third-longest active winning streak against an MVC foe. (Evansville, 12; Indiana State, 9).
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