NORMAL, Ill. -Â Illinois State (8-5, 1-2 MVC) looks to snap a two-game skid as the Redbirds host Southern Illinois (6-7, 1-2 MVC) Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff inside CEFCU Arena on ESPN+ and the Redbird Sports Radio Network.
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois State leads the all-time series with the Salukis by a 65-46 margin. The Redbirds have won the last three contests over Southern Illinois, including two meetings
last year. The Redbirds took a pair of dramatic wins over Southern Illinois last season. Mary Crompton's go-head three with 2 seconds left gave Illinois State a 73-70 home win over Southern Illinois, while Paige Robinson's go-ahead three in the final minute lifted Illinois State over the Salukis 59-56 in Carbondale.
LAST TIME OUT
Murray State was too much for Illinois State Saturday as the Redbirds fell 90-55 at CFSB Center. Despite a tight first quarter, Murray State pulled away with a big second quarter run that Illinois State couldn't overcome.
Shannon Dowell scored five first-quarter points in an opening quarter that saw the score tied on six different occasions. She went on a 5-0 surge that tied the game at 11 with 2:43 to play in the first. Moments later Brooke Coffey put Illinois State in front 15-14 with her free throw at the 1:30 mark of the first. It turned out to be Illinois State's only lead of the game, as Murray State jumped ahead 17-15Â before the end of the quarter.
The Racers outscored Illinois State 31-4 in the second and grabbed a commanding 48-19 lead at halftime. Illinois State opened the second half hitting three of their first six three-pointers in the third quarter, but the halftime deficit was ultimately too much.
DeAnna Wilson led Illinois State with 15 points, the lone double-figure performance for the Redbirds. It was Wilson's 8th game this season in double figures and her fourth over the last five games.
THE REDBIRD STATE
Illinois State will take on an in-state foe for the fifth time this season on Wednesday. The Redbirds are riding a thirteen-game winning streak over in-state foes, which includes a 10-0 mark over the last two seasons. Illinois State's last loss to an in-state foe came Feb. 20 of 2022 to Southern Illinois, 49-65, at CEFCU Arena.
Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 31-8 against in-state foes and 18-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena. Illinois State has won 6-plus games over in-state foes in each of the last four seasons.
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 13.0 points in 13 games this year. Wong has reached double-figure scoring in nine games this season, which has nearly surpassed her mark of 10 double- figure scoring games from last year. She recently finished in double-figures in four straight games for the first time in her collegiate career, averaging 16.5 points per game over that stretch. Wong 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. She is pairing her quality scoring performances with an extremely efficient shooting percentage. Wong sits at a 53.6 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from deep on the year.
STAT SHEET STUFFER
Kate Bullman is putting together an impressive all-around season for the Redbirds. She is the only MVC player with 70-plus points, 20-plus blocks, 30-plus assists and 10-plus steals this season.
Bullman grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds in the win over Chicago State Nov. 30. It was her second performance of 15-plus rebounds this season, joining a mark of 15 that led the game against SIUE. Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoops Stats, Bullman's 17 boards were the most in under 20 minutes by anyone in NCAA DI over the last three seasons. She played just 19 minutes in the win.
Bullman, who accounts for two of the top-three single-game rebounding efforts in the Valley this season, was the first MVC player this year to grab 15 rebounds in a game and the first to tally 15-plus rebounds in a single game this season.
She was also the first MVC player taller than 6-feet to eclipse 30 assists on the year. Bullman put up a performance of 7 assists in the win over Bradley, which set a career-high and was her sixth game this season with 3-plus assists.
She is one of two MVC players with 20-plus blocks this year and has 3-plus blocks in five outings on the season, including Thursday at Belmont.
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