NORMAL, Ill. - For the final time this regular season, Illinois State women's basketball will play inside CEFCU Arena Saturday as Valparaiso makes the trip to Normal. Tip-off between the Redbirds and Beacons is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from inside CEFCU Arena – Home of the Redbirds.
Saturday also stands as Senior Day for the Redbirds. In a postgame ceremony, Illinois State will honor five athletes, and two managers, for their time as a Redbird.
The game will be on ESPN3 as John Fitzgerald and Sean Johnson are on the call. Also, Greg Halbelib provides the radio call on WJBC AM 1230 / FM 102.1 or the Varsity Network for Redbird fans.
GAME INFORMATION
v. Valparaiso (Game Notes)
When: Sunday, Feb. 23
Tip-off: 4:00 p.m. CT
Location: Normal, Ill.
Facility: CEFCU Arena
Watch: ESPN3
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Listen: WJBC AM 1230 / FM 102.1
LAST TIME OUT
As the top two scoring defenses in the Valley squared off for the second time this season, it was Illinois State women's basketball who defended home court, coming out on top over the UIC Flames by a final of 66-55 Thursday night from CEFCU Arena.
The win was significant for many reasons for the Redbirds, but none more so than allowing Illinois State to now have 20 wins in a season for the first time under Kristen Gillespie, and first time as a program since the 2012-13 season which saw ISU finish 24-11.
The 11-point victory now moves ISU to have 14 conference wins this season. The last time ISU held fourteen or more conference wins in a season came during the 2009-10 campaign, as ISU finished 16-2 in MVC play that year.
ISU would be led once again by the efforts of graduate student Paige Robinson, who finished with a team-high 21 points off 6-of-12 shooting and 9-of-13 from the free-throw line. The Bethany native saw teammate DeAnna Wilson join her in double figures as Wilson finished with 14 points.
For UIC, Jaida McCloud finished with a game-high 23 points, only three points away from becoming the first ISU opponent to have 25 points in a game since Jan. 1 (UNI's Grace Boffeli). Both McCloud and Josie Filer grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds while Tiana Jackson dished out five of the Flames' nine assists.
With the win, Illinois State moves to 20-7 overall and 14-3 in Valley play while UIC is now 15-13 overall and 7-10 in Valley play.
SCOUTING THE BEACONS
Valparaiso comes to Normal riding a three-game win streak, all of which have come on the road against Indiana State, Evansville, and Bradley.
Olivia Brown leads the Beacons in scoring, averaging 11.9 points per game this season. Meanwhile, Leah Earnest is grabbing 7.6 rebounds a game to lead the program. Finally, Maya Dunson is the only Beacon with double figure blocks, holding 11,
In her fifth season with Valparaiso is Mary Evans. Evans has made an immediate impact on the program in her first four years, raising the team's level of play to be competitive in a strong Missouri Valley Conference. Through four seasons, Evans has a record of 48-68 at the helm of the Brown and Gold.
Last season, Evans led the program to a number of firsts en route to a 9-9 mark in MVC play and a sixth-place finish in the conference standings, both of which match the program's bests since joining the Valley.
In 2021-22, Valparaiso registered the first win at Drake and the first win at Bradley in program history. The Beacons swept the season series over Drake, the program's first two wins ever against the Bulldogs. The Beacons also tallied four top-100 wins within the Valley.
The hard work for Valparaiso under Evans' direction was shown as Grace White was chosen as MVC Sixth Player of the Year following the 2021-22 campaign – Valpo's first major postseason award winner since joining the Valley.
SERIES HISTORY WITH VALPARAISO
Saturday stands as the 16th overall meeting between the Beacons and Redbirds, as ISU holds a 11-4 series lead. When meeting in Normal, it is the Redbirds defending home court with an 5-3 advantage in the series including 4-2 under Kristen Gillespie.
In the last meeting between the two, Paige Robinson and DeAnna Wilson led the charge for ISU as they picked up a 78-46 win over the Beacons in Valparaiso. Robinson would go for a game-high 23 points, including 21 in the first half, while Wilson finished with 17 points.
Valparaiso was led by Ali Saunders who gathered 13 points off 4-of-7 shooting. Leah Earnest grabbed a team-leading five rebounds, while Saunders dished out four assists as well.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
While the league's overall home court record is a pedestrian 54-48 (52.9percent), notably the five teams with winning records in league play have combined for a 35-8 record at home (81.4 percent). Illinois State joins Missouri State with a home record of 7-2 this season in MVC play.
TIGHT RACE TO THE FINISH
With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Valley race has a two-way tie at the top of the standings with Belmont and Illinois State sitting at 14-3 in league play.
UNI and Missouri State sit one game back at 13-4, while Drake is 12-5 and still in the hunt for a title.
REDBIRDS FOR LIFE
Saturday will be the final regular season home game for the Redbirds this season, which means it is time for the annual Senior Day game to take place.
This season, Illinois State will recognize five seniors for their time as part of the program. ISU will recognize Jada Stinson, Hannah Kelle, Paige Robinson, DeAnna Wilson, and Mary Crompton in a postgame ceremony from CEFCU Arena Saturday.
Along with the five seniors, the Redbirds will honor the time and dedication of a pair of senior managers as well in the ceremony.
PART OF NCAA HISTORY
With 3:53 remaining in the first quarter against UIC on Feb.23, Paige Robinson knocked down her second jumper of the game, giving her four points. With her second basket, Robinson officially put her name in the top 100 scorers in NCAA history across all divisions.
The Bethany native was not done though, as she would continue her historic night as the game went on. As she stepped to the free-throw line in the third quarter, Robinson knocked down one of two, giving her 2,500 points in her collegiate career.
The Bethany native now sits fifth among active players across all divisions in scoring with 2,507 career points.
NOT DONE YET
With an 11-point victory over UIC on Feb. 23, Illinois State secured their first 20-win season under the direction of Kristen Gillespie, and first as a program since 2012-13.
14 of the 20 wins have come in MVC play for ISU, which is the most conference wins for a Redbirds program since the team went 16-2 during the 2009-10 season.
TIGHT RACE TO THE FINISH
With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Valley race has a two-way tie at the top of the standings with Belmont and Illinois State sitting at 14-3 in league play.
UNI and Missouri State sit one game back at 13-4, while Drake is 12-5 and still in the hunt for a title.
JOURNEY WOMAN
Graduate guard Mary Crompton became the ninth Redbird WBB athlete to eclipse 100 career starts on Jan. 22 versus Evansville. Prior to Crompton, the last Redbird to hold 100 career starts is now current head coach of UIC, Ashleen Bracey.
With her now 109 career starts, Crompton currently sits sixth all-time in Redbird women's basketball history for the category. She is four starts away from surpassing Jenny Schmidt (1995-99) for fifth all-time with 113 career starts.
IOWA CITY'S OWN
As of Feb. 24, graduate guard Mary Crompton sees herself rank among the top-20 in active career leaders for three-pointers made and three-point field goal percentage.
Crompton is 14th among active players with 287 three-pointers made while having the 16th-best three-point percentage with a mark of 40.5-percent.
CLIMBING IN THE MVC RANKS
Mary Crompton continues her move up the Valley career three-point field goal list. The graduate student sits solely in 3rd on the Valley's all-time list with 287 makes and is only 8 threes away from becoming 2nd all-time in Valley history.
MAKING THEMSELVES KNOWN
As the MVC season rolls on for Illinois State, multiple Redbirds continue making themselves seen within the top-50 of NCAA DI for five individual categories (as of 2/24/23).
Paige Robinson is currently 28th in points per game (18.9); Mary Crompton sits 4th for 3-point field goal percentage (45.9%) and 32nd for 3pt field goals per game (2.7); Finally, Kate Bullman is tied for 39th nationally in blocks with 45 total blocks this season.
PLAYING BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
Thanks to their efforts thus far, ISU currently ranks top-50 in two team categories (as of 2/24/23) across Division I WBB.
The Redbirds are 9th in three-point percentage with a mark of 38.1% as a team while being t-26th on the defensive side with an average of 4.6 blocks per game.
SHOOTING IS KEY
When dissecting the win-loss total for Illinois State in 2022-23, the way the Redbirds shoot has been a valid indicator for the overall result.
In their 20 wins this season, Illinois State is shooting 45.1% from the field and 40.7% from three-point range.
Meanwhile, in their seven losses, the shooting drops to 35.4% from the field and 29.2% from three-point range.
P-Rob IS A PROBLEM
Graduate guard Paige Robinson was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week, her third NOTW honor this season, following a strong outing versus Southern Illinois and Missouri State on Feb. 10 & 12.
The Bethany native averaged 26.5 points per game, as she went 16-of-35 from the field (45.7%) and 6-of-15 (40.0%) from long range. She also averaged five and a half rebounds per contest while holding four assists, one block, and one steal.
BUILDING A WINNING CULTURE
Head coach Kristen Gillespie achieved her 200th career win with a 67-63 road win over Missouri State on Jan. 5. The Redbird head ball coach soon followed that up as she collected win no. 100 at Illinois State on Jan. 22, as part of a 32-point win over Evansville for the 'Birds.
Gillespie becomes the first ISU head coach to eclipse 100 career wins as a Redbird since current Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton, who finished her ISU career with a mark of 144-81 over seven seasons.
RECEIVING A VOTE
For the first time this season, the Illinois State women's basketball team received a vote in the Associated Press Women's Basketball Top-25 Poll, released Monday.
The last time ISU received an AP Poll vote came in March 2010, a season in which the Redbirds finished 28-8 and advanced all the way to the WNIT semifinals.
GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN
On August 20, 2022, Illinois State women's basketball lost one of their own as former standout Simone Goods lost a courageous battle with cancer. As her time as a Redbird, both on and off the court, is forever remembered, Goods remains ranked in the top-25 in ISU women's basketball history for the following: field goals made in a season (190), rebounds in a season (238), career free-throws (227), career blocks (51) and blocks in a season (33). Goods also remains in the top-10 for the following categories: career rebounds per game (6.9), career blocks per game (0.9), and career double-doubles (12).
As the program continues to honor Simone, the Redbirds dedicated the 2022-23 season to her life and legacy at ISU. Every game this season, ISU players have worn an "SG" patch on their jerseys as the ISU coaching staff wears a similar patch on their respective game day attire.
RISE OF THE VALLEY
The NCAA NET Report (Feb. 19) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including six of the 12 sitting in the top-135. Drake leads the way at no. 56 with UNI (68), Belmont (86), and Illinois State (88) rounding out the schools in the top-100. Missouri State (103) and Murray State (132) rank in the top 135.
Only eight leagues have six or more teams in the top 135 of the NET (ACC, American, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MVC, Pac-12, and SEC).
NEW NAME, SAME ARENA
Illinois State University and CEFCU have come to terms on a naming rights and sponsorship agreement valued at approximately $3.1 million over 10 years. The agreement, which will support the funding for ongoing and ever-evolving costs associated with the student-athlete experience, was initiated by LEARFIELD's Redbird Sports Properties, the University's athletics multimedia rightsholder. The former Redbird Arena will be known as CEFCU Arena – Home of the Redbirds, with the University's Board of Trustees approving the arena name change at its October 14 meeting. The CEFCU Arena naming rights and sponsorship agreement will continue to support funding of the Redbird Student-Athlete experience. Particularly in these ever-evolving times, funding is vital to maintaining and expanding upon the current NCAA, Division I student-athlete experience.
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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