Birds Hit The Road for Valpo, UIC

NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State Women's Basketball hits the road for a two-game swing, beginning at Valparaiso (1-13, 0-5 MVC) Friday at 6 p.m. CT and closing Sunday at UIC (8-6. 1-3 MVC) at 1 p.m. CT on the Redbird Sports radio Network and ESPN+

SERIES HISTORY

The Redbirds lead the all-time series with Valparaiso by a 12-4 margin, which includes a four-game win streak over the Beacons. Illinois State dominated both matchups last season to sweep Valparaiso. DeAnna Wilson led all scorers with 20 points as Illinois State rolled to a Senior Day win and season sweep of the Beacons in the most recent meeting. Mary Crompton chipped in 16 points for the Redbirds while redshirt junior Maya Wong 13 points of her own. 

Valpo led 18-14 at the end of the first, but Illinois State outscored Valpo 22-9 in the second to take a 36-27 lead into the locker room. The run continued into the third, where the Redbirds outscored the Beacons 20-8 Illinois State used threes from Kate Bullman, Crompton, Wong and Jada Stinson to jump ahead 30-25 in the second. Paige Robinson's three before the end of the half capped off a 5-for-10 quarter for Illinois State behind the arc. Crompton's three gave Illinois State its double-figure lead of the game, before the lead swelled as high as 29 before the end of the game.

Illinois State holds a 19-3 advantage in the series history with UIC, including wins in the last three meetings. 

LAST TIME OUT

Behind two 20-point double-double efforts from DeAnna Wilson and Kate Bullman, Illinois State Women's Basketball took down Missouri State 85-78 Sunday evening at CEFCU Arena. The win handed Missouri State its first MVC loss and snapped the Bears' 7-game winning streak. Wilson led the game with a 26-point, 11 rebound effort that tied her career high. It was the second time this season she tied her career-high, with both efforts coming in Valley play. She also hit a career-high 14 free throws, going 14-for-16 from the line.Bullman put up a career-high 23 points for the first 20-point effort of her career. She tallied 10 rebounds, her second straight double-figure rebound performance and 8th of the season. It was her third double-double of the season.

Freshman Shannon Dowell finished in double figures for the fourth time in the last six games, putting up 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists. Her steal in the fourth quarter was
a turning point that resulted in a fastbreak and-1 to tie the game at 73 with 5:17 to go. Maya Wong also tallied 13 points and paired it with 7 assists in the win. She banked in a three-pointer that helped cut what was once an 8-point third-quarter lead for the Bears down to just two at the 3:02 mark.

The Redbirds led by as many as nine in the first half, before the Bears headed into halftime on a 9-2 run. Illinois State still held onto a 37-35 lead at the break. Dowell scored the first five points of the second half for Illinois State and the Redbirds jumped out to a 44-37 lead, but the Bears surged to jump in front 58-50 with 3:44 to go in the third. Wong scored six straight and the Redbirds tied the game back up on two different occasions before the end of the quarter. Illinois State outscored the Bears 23-13 in the fourth quarter to come back from a 65-62 deficit heading into the final frame. Wilson scored six of Illinois State's first 8 points to open the fourth quarter, but Missouri State still maintained a three-point lead. Dowell's steal and score kickstarted a 17-5 run for Illinois State to close the game and secure the win.

QUEEN OF THE VALLEY

For the second time this season DeAnna Wilson has earned MVC Player of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Wilson brought home her second MVC Player of the Week award in the last three weeks, after earning the honor Jan. 3. It's the fifth time in her career Wilson has been named MVC Player of the Week. It also marks the second time she has earned multiple Valley Player of the Week honors in the same season, which she is the first Redbird in the Kristen Gillespie era to do. Wilson tied for the most MVC Player of the Week honors (3) in 2021-2022.

Wilson averaged 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks leading Illinois State to wins over Southern Illinois and Missouri State last week. She scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Redbirds handed Missouri State its first MVC loss of the season and snapped their 7-game win streak Sunday. Wilson hit a career-high 14 free throws, going 14-for-16 from the line in the win. To open the week, Wilson put up 14 points and 7 rebounds in a dominating win over the Salukis. The performance against Missouri State tied her career-high in scoring, which she has done twice in MVC play, and was her fourth double-double of the season. It was also her fourth 20- plus point game this season. The double-double was the 22nd of her Redbird career, which moved her into sole possession of fourth place in program history for career double-doubles.

She has scored in double figures in six of Illinois State's last seven games, with four of those performances being 15-plus point efforts. Since the start of Valley play, Wilson is averaging 17.0 points (3rd in the MVC) and 6.6 rebounds (7th in MVC) per game.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

For the third time this season DeAnna Wilson and Kate Bullman recorded a double-double in the same game, joining efforts against Chicago State Nov. 30 and Saint Louis Dec. 19. • Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoopStats, Illinois State leads the MVC this season with three games with two double-doubles.

Wilson and Bullman are also the first MVC duo to put up 20-point and 10-rebound double-doubles in a single game this season. Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoopStats, the last time an MVC team had two 20-point and 10-rebound double-doubles in the same game was Bradley in 2017. It was the fourth 20-point, 10-rebound double-double of Wilson's career and Bullman's first 20-plus point scoring performance as a Redbird.

Wilson had not finished with 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds since March of 2022, when she dropped 22 points and 17 rebounds at Bradley. The Redbirds finished with two 20-plus point scorers for
the second time this season and the first time since Nov. 15, when Wilson scored 23 points and Caroline Waite tallied 20 points against SIUE.

STRONG STRETCH FOR SHANNON

Freshman Shannon Dowell has put up a strong six-game stretch for Illinois State, highlighted by her first career start Wednesday against Southern Illinois. She is averaging 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.8 steals over the last six games. She tied her career high in the win over Missouri State, putting up 13 points for the Redbirds. Her steal in the fourth quarter was a turning point that resulted in a fastbreak and-1 to tie the game at 73 with 5:17 to go. In just 19 minutes Wednesday she put up 8 points and grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds to go with one steal.

Dowell has reached double figures four of her last six games, with three of those performances coming in MVC play. Her performance in the non-conference finale sparked the recent surge and also earned her the first MVC weekly award of her career. She was named MVC Freshman of the Week honors as announced by the league office Dec. 27. Dowell set career-bests in points, minutes and rebounds in a strong all-around performance to help beat Saint Louis. She scored 13 points and paired it with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal against the Billikens. Dowell also hit seven free throws, a best for her short career, going 7-for-8 at the line.

She was the first Redbird to earn an MVC Weekly honor this season and also first Redbird to ever win MVC Freshman of the Week, as the honor was introduced by the league office prior to the start of this season. Dowell followed up the honor with two more double- figure games to open MVC play, scoring 10 against Bradley and Belmont to reach double figure scoring in three straight games for the first time in her short career. She scored 8 of her 10 points in the opening quarter against Belmont as Illinois State worked to trim the deficit.

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