NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State Women's Basketball (6-2, 0-0 MVC) welcomes No.19 Marquette (8-0, 0-0 Big East) to CEFCU Arena Sunday for a 2 p.m. tipoff on the Redbird Sports Radio Network and ESPN+.
The Redbirds are hosting a "Whiteout" game Sunday, with the first 500 fans set to get a white Redbirds t-shirt and the first 200 students set to receive a white Redbirds beanie. Fans are encouraged to wear white as Illinois State takes on the Golden Eagles.
SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between Marquette and Illinois State is knotted up at 2-2, with each team unbeaten on its home floor. The two sides last met in 2019, when the Golden Eagles earned a 58-41 win over the Redbirds in Milwaukee.
Illinois State struggled offensively in the last meeting between the programs. Shooting just 27.1 percent from the field and 10.5 percent from beyond the arc, the Redbirds struggled to find a groove offensively with their best shooting percentage coming in the third quarter when they connected on 30 percent (3-of-10) of their shots. Senior guard TeTe Maggett led the Redbirds in scoring and rebounding with 16 points and six rebounds, marking her second-straight double-digit scoring effort. Graduate student Lexi Wallen was the only other Redbird to reach double-figure scoring, netting 10 points.
Marquette's Chloe Marotta scored the first basket of the game and the Golden Eagles never relinquished the lead from that point on.
LAST TIME OUT
No.5 NC State's size and athleticism proved to be too much for Illinois State, who saw its five-game winning streak snapped 79-61 at Reynolds Coliseum last week. Caroline Waite tied her career-high with six threes and finished with a game-high 23 points on the night, one shy of her career-high. She hit three threes to open the game in the first quarter, keeping Illinois State within striking distance of the Wolfpack.
Waite and the Redbirds started hot from deep and trailed by just six after one quarter. All 15 of Illinois State's points in the opening frame came from deep as the Redbirds went 5-for-9. Waite scored Illinois State's first nine points before Wong and Abbie Aalsma added threes of their own. NC State took a 21-15 lead into the second quarter. NC State opened on a 12-2 run to stretch their lead to 33-17 in the second. The Redbirds trimmed it back down to 12 off a hook-shot from Savannah McGowan and Waite's old-fashioned three-point play with 3:03 to go in the first half. The Wolfpack headed into the locker room with a 39-25 lead.
The Wolfpack lead swelled to 20 for the first time in the third as NC State continued to pull away. Waite scored nine more points in the third quarter going 3-for-4 from deep. Her three at the 3:54 cut the NC State lead back under 20, but the Wolfpack responded to go back up 64-43 after three quarters. The run continued into the fourth as NC State mounted a game-high 24-point lead before closing it out.
ANOTHER RANKED TEST
After battling fifth-ranked Wolfpack last week, the Redbirds will take on an unbeaten ranked opponent for the second straight game. The Redbirds are set to take on consecutive ranked non-conference foes for the first time since 2004, when Illinois State fell to No.10 Notre Dame and No.16 Kansas State in back to back games.
Sunday's contest marks the first time since 2007 that a ranked non-conference foe will visit CEFCU Arena. 18th-ranked DePaul came to town in that game, pulling out an 80-75 win over the Redbirds.
It is the 24th time the program has hosted a ranked opponent in Normal. It is the third time in the Kristen Gillespie era that Illinois State will take on a ranked opponent at home, and the first time that opponent is not named Missouri State. The Bears visited ranked No.23 in 2021 (twice) and No.21 in 2020.
WAITE'S WORLD
Waite's outing against NC State was another in what has been an impressive shooting performance for the junior to open the 2023-2024 season.
It was Waite's, who was within reach of the program single game record for threes in a game (8), sixth game this year with three-plus threes. She has hit four-plus threes in four of Illinois State's last six games. Waite ranks first in the league with 3.25 three pointers per game, a mark that sits 15th in NCAA D1 this year She is 26-for-55 from deep on the year for 47.3 percent, which sits second the Valley and ranks 32nd in NCAA D1. The loss to NC State was Illinois State's first this year when Waite hits 3-plus threes. The Redbirds where 5-0 before falling to the Wolfpack.
Waite has scored 15-plus points in five of Illinois State's six wins this year. She has hit 3-plus three pointers in all but one of Illinois State's wins this year (Chicago State). She has reached double-figure scoring in five of Illinois State's eight games this season.
BALANCED EFFORT
Illinois State put up an historic performance against Chicago State Nov. 30 as seven Redbirds reached double figure scoring in a single game for the first time in program history. DeAnna Wilson led all scorers with 21 points, while Daijah Smith scored 13, Maya Wong tallied 12 and Kate Bullman put up 10. Three of Illinois State's four freshman reached double-figures in the game as Savannah McGowan (12), Shannon Dowell (11) and Brooke (11) had big nights off the bench. Prior to Thursday's performance, Illinois State hadn't put at least six players in double figures since January of 2014.
It marked the fifth time this season that Illinois State has put three-plus players into double figure scoring and was the second time that 5-plus Redbirds have reached double figures in a single game this year, joining the season opener Nov. 6 at Omaha (5).
DOUBLE TROUBLE
DeAnna Wilson and Kate Bullman secured the first two Illinois State double-doubles of the season Nov. 30 against Chicago State in just 17 minutes and 19 minutes respectively. Wilson did so in the first half alone with 14 points and 10 rebounds. She finished with her second 20- plus point scoring night and her first double-figure rebounding night this year. Bullman grabbed 12 rebounds in the first half, eventually securing a career-high of 17 for the night. Her three-pointer with 8:05 to go in the fourth lifted Bullman into double-figure scoring for the second time this year. Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoops Stats, Bullman's 17 boards are the most in under 20 minutes by anyone in NCAA DI over the last three seasons.
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