NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State heads south for their first MVC road swing, which opens Thursday at Belmont (8-4, 1-0 MVC) at 6:30 PM CT and continues Saturday at Murray State (8-2, 1-0 MVC) at 2 PM. Both games are slated for the Redbird Sports radio Network and ESPN+.
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois State looks to remain unbeaten against the Bruins after a 70-56 win over the Belmont in the first ever meeting between the two sides last season. Mary Crompton scored a game-high 26 points in that win, which included a career-high 7 threes, as Illinois State took down the new league foe.
Illinois State jumped out to a 21-4 first quarter lead and never looked back in the first all-time meeting between the new conference foes. The Redbirds jumped on the Bruins 12-0 and the Redbirds kept their defensive pressure up to hold Belmont off the scoreboard for nearly five and a half minutes. Illinois State never trailed, building as high as a 22-point lead in the win. Crompton was joined in double figures by DeAnna Wilson (14) and Kate Bullman (11). Wilson also tallied 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
The Redbirds lead the series with Murray State by a 4-1 margin, including a 2-0 mark last season. Illinois State will make its first trip to Murray since 1976. The Redbirds held off Murray State for a win to open the 2023 Hoops In the Heartland, led by Paige Robinson's 21 points. Five Redbirds finished in double-figure scoring as Kate Bullman chipped in 14 along with DeAnna Wilson's 12, Abbie Aalsma's 11 and Mary Crompton's 10. It was the first time since January of 2022 that the Redbirds put five players into double-figures.
After a first half that saw 10 lead changes and 11 ties Illinois State seemingly took over in the third quarter, outscoring the Racers 24-13 to hold a 64-53 lead as the game shifted to the final frame. The Racers started the third with a 4-0 run before Illinois State responded and built the lead out to as many as 11 heading into the final 10 minutes. Murray State didn't go away easily as the Racers trimmed the lead from 11 down to only four with 5:09 remaining. Murray State eventually tied the game at 66 before Crompton hit a pair of threes down the stretch to put Illinois State back in front.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State overcame a halftime deficit for the first time this season to win 78-74 over Bradley to open MVC play last Saturday.
The Redbirds trailed by six at the break, before DeAnna Wilson used an 18-point second-half performance to secure a win for Illinois State. Wilson tied her career-high with 26 points, her third 20-plus point performance of the season.
Maya Wong and Shannon Dowell were the other two Redbirds to reach double figures. Wong tallied 11 points and hit a clutch three-pointer in the fourth quarter to give Illinois State a 61-58 lead with 5:27 to go that the Redbirds never surrendered. Dowell reached double figures for the second straight game, scoring 8 of her 10 points in the second half.
Bradley shot 14-27 from deep (51.9 percent) and was led by 34 points from Halli Poock. The Braves started hot and stayed hot, going 6 for their first 10 from deep to take a 29-21 second-quarter lead. Wilson led a 10-2 run to tie the game at 31 with 2:57 left in the first half. Wong set up a pair of buckets as Wilson scored six of Illinois State's 10 points in the scoring surge to force a Braves timeout. Bradley answered with an 8-2 run to take a 39-33 advantage into the lockeroom. Halli Poock led the Braves with 15 points in the first half as Bradley shot 7-for-13 (53.8 %) from behind the arc.
Wilson scored Illinois State's first 10 points to reach 18 for the night and Illinois State tied the game at 43 to open the third quarter. The Braves responded though with a 10-2 run that put Bradley back ahead 53-45 at 4:01 in the third. Illinois State scored seven straight, highlighted by a 5-0 personal surge from Aaslma, to cut the Bradley lead to 53-52 heading into the fourth. Dowell's fastbreak layup to open the fourth quarter gave Illinois State their first lead since the first quarter. Both sides traded blows before Wong's three put Illinois State up for good at the 5:27 mark. Her three kick-started an 11-2 run that helped Illinois State mount a 69-60 lead over the Braves. • Bradley wouldn't go away as Illinois State's advantage was trimmed all the way down to 76-74 with under five seconds to play. The Redbirds held off the surging Braves for the win.
WILSON EARNS MVC POTW
Following the big night against the Braves, Wilson earned MVC Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Wednesday. It's the fourth time in her career Wilson has been named MVC Player of the Week and the first time since the 2021- 2022 season, when she tied for the most MVC Player of the Week (3) honors that year.
She put up the fourth 25-plus point performance of her career, and her first since setting a career high of 26 against Indiana State back in March of last season. It's the second straight week Illinois State has earned an MVC Weekly honor. She joins Shannon Dowell, who earned Valley Freshman of the Week honors Dec. 27, as Redbirds who have earned MVC Weekly awards this season.
MAKING IT RAIN
Despite a slow shooting night against Bradley last week, the Redbirds are still one of the nation's hottest-shooting teams from behind the arc. Illinois State ranks 9th in NCAA D1 and first in the Valley with a 38.9 percent mark from behind the three point line. Illinois State is averaging 8.0 three-pointers per game (51st in NCAA, 3rd in MVC).
Interestingly, Illinois State ranks just 136th in NCAA DI and 6th in the Valley in three-pointers per game. (20.5).
The Redbirds have hit 10-plus threes in four games this season, including a season high of 12 vs Saint Francis (IL) Nov. 19. Caroline Waite (5) and Abbie Aalsma (3) each hit three-plus in the game. Five different Redbirds hit from deep as Brooke Coffey, Lauren Cohen and Shannon Dowell also connected. Illinois State hit 10 threes vs Omaha and Saint Louis and 11 threes vs No.5 NC State.
Two Redbirds have tallied five-plus threes in a single game this season. Caroline Waite put up a 6-for-9 performance against No.5 NC State Dec. 3 while Maya Wong went 5-for-9 in the win over Saint Louis Dec. 19.
REBOUNDING ROYALTY
With her six rebounds last week vs Bradley, DeAnna Wilson reached the 700 career rebound mark and moved into the top ten of the program career rebounding list. She is the tenth player in program history to grab 700 career rebounds.
She is on-pace to break into the top five in Illinois State's career rebounding list.
MAYA IS MONEY
Maya Wong is proving to be more of a scoring threat for the Redbirds this season. After averaging 7.7 points per game last year, she has upped her per-game average to 13.7 points in 11 games this year.
Wong has reached double-figure scoring in eight games this season, which is well on pace to surpass her mark of 10 double-figure scoring games from last year. She has finished in double-figures in three straight games for the second time this season.
She posted her first-career 20-point performance with a career-high 23-points in the win over Saint Louis Dec. 19. • In wins over Marquette and Saint Louis Wong led Illinois State in scoring in back to back games for the first time as a Redbird. Coming into the season she had led the Redbirds in scoring just one time in her collegiate career.
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