Birds to Host St Francis on Education Day

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State women's basketball (4-3, 0-0 MVC) returns home Thursday to host Saint Francis (7-1, 2-0 CCAC) on Education Day at CEFCU Arena. Over 6,000 elementary students from around Central Illinois will be in attendance as the Redbirds battle the Fighting Saints. Tip off is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN+. 

SERIES HISTORY 

Illinois State took an 89-51 win over the Fighting Saints in the first-ever meeting between the two programs last season. Four newcomers scored in double figures, led by 19 points from Caroline Waite. She scored 16 points in the third quarter, hitting four from behind the arc. Shannon Dowell registered her first-career double figure game in the win, finishing with 12 points  

LAND OF LINCOLN 

Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 36-9 against in-state foes and 20-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena. That includes a win over Big Ten foe Northwestern to open the season Nov. 6, which improved the Redbirds to 15-1 against in-state foes over the last three seasons 

The Redbirds have won 10 straight games against in-state foes at CEFCU Arena. 

VALLEY HONORS 

Elyce Knudsen earned MVC Newcomer of the Week while Doneelah Washington earned MVC Freshman of the Week after helping Illinois State to a pair of wins at the Gulf Coast Showcase.  

Knudsen averaged 14.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals on 17-for-29 (58.6%) shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from deep (62.5%) for the Redbirds in Florida. She shined in a win over New Mexico State Sunday, scoring 23 points, a high for her Redbird career, and posting her second 20-point performance in just five appearances in the season. 

Knudsen caught fire late in the third quarter for the Redbirds, scoring 18 points over the final 11 minutes and 6 seconds of the game. She scored 13-straight points for Illinois State from the 1:44 mark of the third quarter to the 8:43 mark of the fourth quarter. 

Washington reached double-figure scoring for the first time in her career, then did so in consecutive games for the first time in her college career. She averaged 8.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 10-for-16 (62.5%) shooting from the field across three games. Washington tallied season-high marks 11 points and 9 rebounds, just shy of her first-career double-double, in 19 minutes of Illinois State's win over High Point on Saturday. 

EFFICIENT SHOOTING 

Despite ranking seventh in the MVC in field goal attempts this season, Illinois State ranks 19th in DI and leads the Valley shooting 49.1 from the field on the year. Addi Martin (59.3%, 2nd in MVC), Nevaeh Thomas (59.1%, 3rd in MVC) and Elyce Thomas (50.9%, 8th in MVC) all rank in the top ten in the Valley this season shooting from the field. 

Illinois State shot north of 50% in two games at the Gulf Coast Showcase, including a season-high 59.6% in the win over New Mexico State. 

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