Redbirds Host Racers for Annual Play4Kay Game Sunday

NORMAL, Ill. – For the second time in four days, Illinois State women's basketball (16-5, 10-1 MVC) will be in action from Doug Collins Court in CEFCU Arena as they welcome Murray State (11-9, 4-7 MVC) to Normal Sunday.

Sunday will also hold a special place in the hearts of Redbird fans as it is the annual Play4Kay game for the program. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. from CEFCU Arena – Home of the Redbirds.

Tickets to Sunday's Play4Kay game are only $1 and can be purchased at www.goredbirds.com/tickets. If you are unable to make it to the game but would like to support the Kay Yow Cancer fund, visit support.kayyow.com/illinoisstatewbb23.

The game will be shown as part of the Valley on ESPN package with Laura Leonard and RC McBride on the call. Greg Halbleib provides the radio call for ISU fans, which can be found on the Varsity Network or WJBC 102.1 FM & 1230 AM.

GAME INFORMATION

v. Murray State (Game Notes (PDF))
When: Sunday, Feb. 5
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m. CT
Location: Normal, Ill.
Facility: CEFCU Arena
Watch: Valley on ESPN
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Listen: WJBC 1230 AM /102.1 FM

LAST TIME OUT

Behind a strong first quarter and the efforts of Mary Crompton, Illinois State women's basketball (16-5, 10-1 MVC) secured its ninth straight win overall, and sixth straight over Bradley (3-19, 0-11 MVC), by a final of 84-52 Thursday evening from CEFCU Arena (full recap).

The 32-point win marks the third time the Redbirds have won by such margin over the last four games. In the last four games, the Redbirds have outscored their MVC opponents by a margin of 295-186.

Thursday night saw three Redbirds finish in double figures, led by Mary Crompton's game-high 17 points including 5-7 from three-point range. Crompton was joined in double figures by Paige Robinson and DeAnna Wilson, who gathered 13 points apiece on the night.

Wilson and Kate Bullman both grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds Thursday night while Maya Wong dished out six assists to lead the Redbirds in the category. The 13-point, 10 rebound effort from DeAnna Wilson gives the St. Louis native her sixth double-double of the 2022-23 season.

The Braves were led by Alex Rouse with 12 points while Daija Powell gathered 10 points to join Rouse in double figures. Powell and Isis Fitch grabbed a team-high six rebounds while Nika Dorsey dished out a team-high four assists Thursday.

SCOUTING THE RACERS

The Murray State Racers are one of the three new MVC programs this season, as they have gone 4-7 in conference play so far but have dropped their last five Valley games. When playing away from home, the Racers have gone 4-6 overall in 2022-23, including dropping their first five road games in Valley play.

Katelyn Young has made her presence well-known this season, averaging 20.9 points and 8.3 rebounds in 2022-23. In MVC play alone, Young averages 22.9 points per game while grabbing 9.1 rebounds per contest, both near the top of the Valley, respectively. She is joined in a double figure average by Macey Turley, averaging 10.6 points per game while dishing out a team-leading 61 assists.

Leading the charge for Murray State, in her sixth season, is Rechelle Turner. Last season, Turner tied the school-record for most regular-season wins in school history with 21, leading the Racers to the WNIT for the first time since 2009.

She has led the Racers to back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference semifinal appearances in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Tuner has been able to coach Katelyn Young to OVC Player of the Year honors while having a school record four players on All-OVC teams last season.

In 2020-21, the Racers finished with their first .500 or better finish (overall and OVC play) since 2011-12. Overall, under Turner, Murray State has posted a top-ten all-time free throw percentage in three of her first four seasons, including a career-high 76.8-percent in 2020-21, the fourth-best free throw percentage in school history.

SERIES HISTORY WITH MURRAY STATE

Sunday will be the fourth all-time meeting between the Racers and Redbirds. The previous three meetings have seen ISU win two out of three, including the last overall meeting in 2015.

In the last meeting (November 2015), Illinois State women's basketball earned its first victory of the season after defeating Murray State 81-76 at then-Redbird Arena. Two freshmen led the Redbirds, as Shakeela Fowler finished with a career-high 18 points while Millie Stevens added a career-high 17 points.

Stevens would add a game-high nine boards while Fowler added five assists and four rebounds. Taylor Stewart chipped in 12 points, which would all come in the second half. Murray State's Leasia Wright finished with a game-high 21 points, including 5-of-12 from behind the arc.

PLAYING FOR A BIGGER PURPOSE

Sunday will be an extra special day for the Redbirds when they host their annual Play4Kay game from CEFCU Arena. This year's game will have an extra special connection for the Illinois State women's basketball program as they continue honoring the life and legacy of former Redbird standout, Simone Goods, who passed from cancer last summer.  

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.

BUILDING A WINNING CULTURE

Head coach Kristen Gillespie achieved her 200^th 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.

The 32-point wins over Evansville (Jan. 22), Valparaiso (Jan. 27), and Bradley (Feb. 2) sees the largest regular season margin of victory over an MVC foe under Gillespie for ISU.

JOURNEY WOMAN

Graduate guard Mary Crompton crossed yet another Illinois State milestone off her list on Jan. 22, as she started her 100^th career game as a Redbird. With her 100 career starts, Crompton becomes the ninth Redbird WBB athlete to cross this plateau, and first since former Redbird star and now head coach at UIC, Ashleen Bracey.

With her now 103 career starts, Crompton currently sits sixth all-time in Redbird women's basketball history for the category. She is nine starts away from tying Jenny Schmidt (1995-99) for fifth all-time with 112 career starts.

DEFENSE SHOWING UP

For only the second time in the shot clock era (1982-present), Illinois State held opponents to score fewer than 50 points in three straight games.

As the Redbirds held Evansville (Jan. 22), Valparaiso (Jan. 27), and UIC (Jan. 29) to fewer than 50 points, it is the first time since the 2008-09 season that this feat has been done. In that season, the Redbirds defeated Western Illinois (80-49), Eastern Michigan (83-47), and UW-Green Bay (60-49).

MARGIN CALL

For the third time in four games, Illinois State posted a 32-point victory on Thursday, beating rival Bradley 84-52.  The Redbirds have the league's top ranked scoring defense in league play (57.18 ppg) and hold The Valley's top scoring margin in league games, outscoring opponents by 13.73 points per game.

During the last four game stretch, Illinois State is averaging 73.75 ppg, while limiting its opponents to 46.5 ppg, which is good for a +27.3-scoring margin.

IOWA CITY'S OWN

As of Feb. 4, 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.

Through this point of the season, Crompton is 15^th among active players with 275 three-pointers made while having the 16^th-best three-point percentage with a mark of 40.6-percent.

TOP TALENT ON DISPLAY

For the only time this regular season, the top two scorers in the MVC go head-to-head Sunday when Murray State's Katelyn Young (20.9 ppg) and ISU's Paige Robinson's (18.3 ppg) square off Sunday.

Young also sits in the top-three of the Valley in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (.510).

CLIMBING IN THE MVC RANKS

In a massive road win for the Redbirds at Belmont on Jan. 15, Mary Crompton went for 26 points including 7-13 from three-point range, tying her career high for single-game three-pointers made set back in the season opener at Dayton on Nov. 10.

Thanks to her overall career efforts from deep, Crompton currently sits fifth overall in MVC career three-pointers made with 275. Crompton is one triple away from Indiana State's Brittany Schoen for 4^th on The Valley list (276) and is three away from moving all alone into third position. 

GETTING OFF TO A HOT START

As Illinois State held Bradley to four points in the first quarter on Feb. 2, it marks the 35^th time since 2017-18 that ISU has held an opponent to single digits in the fourth quarter. Of the previous 35 instances, 22 have come against MVC opponents.

The four points allowed at Belmont on Jan. 15 and at home versus Bradley on Feb. 2 is the fewest first quarter points allowed by ISU since last year's Hoops in the Heartlands Quarterfinals against Loyola (Chicago), where the 'Birds also allowed four points.

KEEPING A WIDE MARGIN

For the first time since the 2008-09 season, Illinois State defeated back-to-back opponents by a margin of at least 30 points, thanks to 32-point wins over Evansville and Valparaiso.

This was the first time for ISU to defeat back-to-back opponents by 30+ points since taking wins over Western Michigan (82-51) and UNC Greensboro (95-51) in the 2008-09 season.

According to ISU women's basketball record books, the back-to-back 32-point wins for the Redbirds is the first time this has occurred in conference play since the 2007-08 season. In that season, ISU defeated Bradley (79-46) and Indiana State (91-56) in consecutive games.

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS

Junior forward Kate Bullman is slowly but surely moving her way up the all-time ranks in ISU history for career blocks. With four blocks at UIC on Jan. 29, Bullman eclipsed 100 career rejections. The junior now sits solely in four all-time with 102 career blocks.

The Grayslake native becomes the first Redbird WBB athlete to reach 100 career blocks since August Green, who played from 2016-18.

CALM, COOL, COLLECTED

So far this season, redshirt junior Maya Wong has cemented herself as one of the nation's best from the free-throw line.

As of 2/4/23, the Normal native is leading the Valley with her mark of 92.7-percent from the line.

WELCOME TO THE 1K CLUB

With her three-pointer at 3:08 in the third quarter versus Drake (12/30/22), graduate student Mary Crompton officially joined ISU's 1,000-point club. This made the Iowa City native the 30^th member and only the second player (Juliunn Redmond) to reach the milestone under head coach Kristen Gillespie.

As her career continues, Crompton currently sits in 25^th all-time for ISU scoring leaders with 1,129 points and counting.

MAKING THEMSELVES KNOWN

As they have done all season, the Redbirds see four athletes making their mark across the top-100 in various statistical categories, in both DI WBB and the MVC (as of 2/4/23).  

CATEGORY	VALUE	NCAA	MVC
PPG (Paige)	18.3	38th	2nd
3PT FG% (Mary)	.473	6th	1st
3PT/Game (Mary)	2.9	t-19th	1st
FT Pct (Maya)	.927	-	1st
Asst./TO ratio (Paige)	1.8	99th	7th
Blocks (Kate)	29.0	t-89th	5th

PLAYING BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL

Thanks to their efforts thus far, ISU currently ranks top-100 in nine categories (as of 2/4/23) across Division I WBB while being top five in the MVC for each category, respectively.

CATEGORY	VALUE	NCAA	MVC
3PT FG%	.380	7th	1st
3PT FG/Game	7.6	t-57th	3rd
Free Throw Pct	.747	71st	2nd
Blocks Per Game	4.3	47th	3rd
Turnover Margin	2.67	84th	1st
Assist/TO ratio	0.99	85th	4th
FG Pct Defense	.373	58th	2nd
Scoring Defense	59.7	69th	2nd
Scoring Margin	8.6	75th	2nd

REBOUND MACHINE

As part of Illinois State's hard-fought 59-56 win in Carbondale on January 7, junior Kate Bullman would set a new career-high in rebounds.

The Grayslake native grabbed 14 rebounds (9 defensive boards) against the Salukis to surpass her previous career high of 13, set versus Valparaiso on January 13, 2022. 

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 16 wins this season, Illinois State is shooting 44,8% from the field and 39.8% from three-point range. Meanwhile, in their five losses, the shooting drops to 34.4% from the field and 29.7% from three-point range.

GAINING NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Illinois State comes in as the highest ranked MVC program, thanks to another successful road trip, in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major top-25. The Redbirds (#9) are joined in the rankings by fellow MVC members UNI (#12) and Drake (#22).

MVC members Missouri State and Belmont are receiving votes.  

RISE OF THE VALLEY

The NCAA NET Report (Jan. 30) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including six of the 12 sitting in the top-130. Drake leads the way at no. 54 with UNI (65), Illinois State (84), and Belmont (92) rounding out the schools in the top-100. Missouri State (102) and Murray State (129) rank in the top 130.

Only eight leagues have six or more teams in the top 130 of the NET (ACC, American, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MVC, Pac-12, and SEC).

49 YEARS IN THE MAKING

As part of a record-breaking weekend in Vegas for the Redbirds, the Illinois State women's basketball program would match their best program start in 49 years after taking down the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters on Nov. 26.

With the 70-53 victory, the Redbirds would sit at 5-0 to start the 2022-23 season. This matched the best program start in 49 years, when ISU would start the 1973-74 season with the same record.

BROKEN RECORDS

As part of the program's annual Education Day on Dec. 6, 2022, the Redbirds saw a new home attendance record be set as 6,363 school children, staff, admin., and longtime Redbird fans piled into CEFCU to watch ISU take on UMSL.

Prior to Dec. 6, the previous record stood at 6,075 which was set during the 2010 WNIT when California paid Normal a visit.

WELCOME TO THE HALL OF FAME

Illinois State women's basketball legend Cathy Boswell was selected as one of five to be inducted as the 24th Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Class. The members for the Class of 2023 are Cathy Boswell (Veteran Player), Donna Lopiano (Contributor), Lisa Mattingly (Official), Carolyn Peck (Coach), and Lindsey Whalen (Player).

Boswell (1979-83) was a two-time WBCA Kodak All-American and two-time Wade Trophy finalist during her time at ISU, finishing her collegiate career with 2,005 points and 1,054 rebounds. She led the Redbirds to 90 wins, an NCAA Tournament berth in 1983, a 15th-place finish in the AIAW National Tournament in 1981 and two WNIT bids (1980 and 1982). Boswell was a member of the 1984 women's Olympic gold medalist USA basketball team and competed internationally for 14 years, earning seven team most valuable player awards, one league MVP title, a player of the year award and five league championships.

The Class of 2023 will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, receiving their coveted Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Trophy and Baron Championship Induction Ring on April 29th, 2023, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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.

REDBIRDS SIGN FOUR TO NLI's

The Illinois State women's basketball program announced the signings of four high-level talent as part of 2022 National Signing Day. The 2023 recruiting class includes Brooke Coffey (St. Charles, Mo.), Shannon Dowell (O'Fallon, Ill.), Molly Lenz (Eden Prairie, Minn.), and Savannah McGowan (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Coffey, a 6-1 guard from St. Charles Mo., has led the Incarnate Word to 68 straight wins, including multiple state titles, as the program has now captured a total of 12 MO Class 6 Championships.

Dowell, a 5-10 guard from O'Fallon, Ill., comes from O'Fallon Township High where she was named First Team Southwestern All-Conference in 2021-22 along with Third Team All State for the IBCA following last year. Dowell has had the chance to learn from five-time IBCA Co-Coach of the Year in District 19 4A (Coach Knolhoff) and amassed 1,000 career points in her junior year as a Panther.

Lenz, a 5-8 guard from Eden Prairie, Minn., was awarded 2021-22 Lake Conference All-Conference and Minnesota Girls Basketball Association All-State Honorable Mention honors. As a junior, Lenz was selected as one of Eden Prairie's three Varsity captains.

McGowan, a 6-2 forward from Minneapolis, Minn., amassed 1,000 career points during her junior season for the Armstrong High Falcons, gaining her All-State honorable mention honors.

SINGLE-GAME TICKETS

Single-game tickets are available for the 2022-23 season. Follow this link to purchase your single-game tickets or contact the Athletics Ticket Office at (309) 438-8000 for more information. Tickets start at just $10 for Illinois State women's basketball home games. 

For all latest on Illinois State women's basketball, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team at @RedbirdWBB (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.