EVANSVILLE, IN. -Â Â Illinois State women's basketball begins the final weekend of the regular season with a trip down to Indiana as they meet the Evansville Aces on Thursday. Tip-off between the Redbirds and Purple Aces is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
The game will be an ESPN+ broadcast while Greg Halbleib provides the radio call on WJBC FM 93.7 or the Varsity Network for Redbird fans.
GAME INFORMATION
at Evansville (Game Notes)
When:Â Thursday, March 2
Tip-off:Â 6:00 p.m. CT
Location:Â Evansville, Ind.
Facility: Meeks Family Fieldhouse
Watch:Â ESPN+
Live Stats:Â Sidearm Stats
Listen:Â WJBC FM 93.7
LAST TIME OUT
On a day where emotions were at an all-time high as part of Illinois State's Senior Day, it would be the Redbirds ending their home slate of the regular season with a season sweep of Valparaiso, by a final of 78-49 Saturday afternoon.
Senior DeAnna Wilson led all Saturday scorers with 20 points as she nearly missed her eighth double-double of the season, finishing with nine rebounds as well. Graduate guard Mary Crompton chipped in 16 points for the Redbirds while redshirt junior Maya Wong finished the night with 13 herself.
The Beacons saw Ali Saunders end the night with a team-high 12 points with teammate Jayda Johnston chipping in 10 points as well for the visitors.
As the regular season heads to its final week, Illinois State remains in a tie for first place alongside Belmont as the programs sit at 15-3 in MVC play this season. For Valparaiso, they see themselves now sitting at 7-20 overall and 5-13 in MVC play.
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE
Evansville is currently riding a three-game losing streak, as they last won on Feb. 17versus UIC. When playing at home against MVC foes, Evansville is 3-6. Normal native, Abby Feit, is leading the way for the Aces this season as she averages 15.5 points per game (7th in MVC) while grabbing 7.6 rebounds a contest, good enough for 6th in the Valley.
Robyn Scherr-Wells is in her second season as head coach of Evansville in 2022-23. In her first season, Scherr-Wells led the Aces to eight wins, the most by an Evansville team since winning 14 games in 2016-17. Capturing a pair of victories in MVC play, Scherr-Wells' side earned the no. 9 seed at Hoops in the Heartland, its highest seed since 2016-17.
One of the hallmarks of head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells system at UE has been playing fast. Installing a new system, Scherr-Wells achieved her goal of getting the Aces to play fast as Evansville finished 35th in the nation with 74.4 possessions per 40 minutes in her first season at the helm. The Aces averaged over 65 points per game in 2021-22, a nine-point increase from the 2020-21 campaign.
Scherr-Wells came to the River City with head coaching experience, coaching for seven seasons in the NAIA with Roosevelt University and Davenport University, amassing a 144-83(.634) record across seven seasons at the helm of two programs. In conference play, Scherr-Wells record was even more impressive, going 76-26 (.745) and winning three regular season and conference tournament championships
SERIES HISTORY WITH EVANSVILLE
Thursday is the 61st overall meeting between the Purple Aces and Redbirds, as ISU leads the series 49-11. When meeting in Evansville, it is the Redbirds leading ther series 21-5.
In the last meeting between the two, Illinois State women's basketball gave Kristen Gillespie her 100th career win as head coach of the Redbirds as they took down Evansville by a final of 78-46.
DeAnna Wilson tied her career-high in points with 25 points on the night, off 10-of-13 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds and a steal. The Purple Aces were led by Normal native, Abby Feit, who scored 20 of the team's 46 points in 33 minutes of action.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
While the league's overall home court record is a pedestrian 58-50 (53.7 percent), notably the five teams with winning records in league play have combined for a 38-8 record at home (82.6 percent). Belmont finished 9-1 at home in league play, while Illinois State and Missouri State each went 8-2. UNI (6-2) and Drake (7-1) close out their home schedule this weekend.
20 WINS
Since the start of the 1992-93 season, only three 20-win MVC teams have been left out of the postseason. Illinois State has won 20+ games in a season for the first time under Kristen Gillespie, and first time as a program since the 2012-13 season which saw ILS finish 24-11.
Belmont, Missouri State and UNI are all one win away from 20 on the season.
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 sixth among active players across all divisions in scoring with 2,516 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.
15 of ISU's 21 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 games 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 15-3 in league play.
UNI and Missouri State sit one game back at 14-4.
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. Â
With her now 110 career starts, Crompton currently sits sixth all-time in Redbird women's basketball history for the category. She is three starts away from surpassing Jenny Schmidt (1995-99) for fifth all-time with 113 career starts.
IOWA CITY'S OWN
As of March 1, 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 290 three-pointers made while having the 17th-best three-point percentage with a mark of 40.4-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 290 makes and is only 5 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 3/1//23).
Paige Robinson is currently 31st in points per game (18.5); Mary Crompton sits 7th for 3-point field goal percentage (45.2%) and 31st for 3pt field goals per game (2.7); Finally, Kate Bullman is tied for 41st nationally in blocks with 46 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 3/1/23) across Division I WBB.
The Redbirds are 9th in three-point percentage with a mark of 38.0% as a team while being 29th on the defensive side with an average of 4.5 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 21 wins this season, Illinois State is shooting 44.9% from the field and 40.5% 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, on February 13 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.
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. 26) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including six of the 12 sitting in the top-150. Drake leads the way at no. 56 with UNI (62), Belmont (82), and Illinois State (85) rounding out the schools in the top-100. Missouri State (105) and Murray State (141) rank in the top 150.
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).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:Â Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
