NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State Women's Basketball (18-8, 11-5 MVC) takes a four-game win streak into its final road trip of the regular season, beginning Thursday at Southern Illinois (8-18, 3-13 MVC) and closing Saturday afternoon at Missouri State (18-7, 12-4).
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Southern Illinois by a 66-46 margin. That includes a dominating win over the Salukis a CEFCU Arena in January. Illinois State led by as many as 36 points en route to a 76-43 win over Southern Illinois.
Abbie Aalsma scored a career-high 16 points to lift Illinois State past Southern Illinois earlier this season. Aalsma led Illinois State shooting 4-for-8 from behind the arc to reach her career high and finish in double figures for just the second time this year. Her four threes were also a career-high, as she put up 10 second half points to help Illinois State pull away from the Salukis. Aalsma was perfect from the field in the second and third quarters and went 4-for-4 from behind the arc over that stretch.
The Redbirds took an 85-78 win over the Bears at home in January, however the Bears lead the all-time series 49-36. Illinois State rode 20-point, 10-rebound double-doubles from DeAnna Wilson and Kate Bullman to secure the win. Wilson led the game with a 26-point, 11 rebound effort that tied her career high while Bullman Bullman put up a career-high 23 points for the first 20-point effort of her career and tallied 10 rebounds.
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. Shannon Dowell's steal and score kickstarted a 17-5 run for Illinois State to close the game and secure the win
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State used a dominating second half to roll Evansville to win its fourth straight game and improve to 12-1 on the year inside CEFCU Arena. Illinois State led by just five at the break, before putting on an impressive 31-10 run in the third quarter. The Redbirds scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 41-27 lead. The run continued in the third as Illinois State stretched its surge to 25-2 and led 57-29. Illinois State hit five three-pointers amid the run, which includes four threes in their first five possessions of the second half.
The Redbirds were led by a strong showing from post players Saturday as Savannah McGowan, Kate Bullman and DeAnna Wilson also reached double figures and combined for 43 points. McGowan led Illinois State in scoring for the first time in her career, going 7-for-9 from the field for a career-high 15 points. Bullman stuffed the stat sheet yet again, tallying 14 points, 6 rebounds, a season-high 6 blocks and five assists. Meanwhile Wilson just missed out on her 8th double-double of the season as she finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds.
Sunday's win primarily came down to Illinois State's effort in the third quarter, as the Redbirds outscored Evansville only by a combined 7 points in the first, second and fourth quarters. Illinois State shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc while eight different Redbirds scored in the third alone. Wilson led Illinois State with 7 points while Abbie Aalsma scored 6 and Maya Wong scored 5.
THE REDBIRD STATE
On Thursday, Illinois State will take on an in-state foe for the ninth time this season. Illinois State is 7-1 against in-state foes this year, with the lone loss coming at UIC in January. The Redbirds have won 10 straight games against in-state foes at CEFCU Arena. Illinois State is 13-1 against Land of Lincoln foes over the last two seasons.
Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 34-9 against in-state foes and 20-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena. Illinois State has won 6-plus games over in-state foes in
each of the last five seasons.
BENCH SPARK
Illinois State has benefited from strong bench play this season as the Redbird reserves are averaging a mark of 25.0 points per game, which ranks 37th in NCAA DI and third in the MVC. The Redbirds put up 31 points off the bench in Sunday's win, which is the eighth time this season Illinois State has tallied 30-plus bench points in a single game.
Illinois State has tallied 40-plus bench points in four games this season, which includes a season-high of 55 in the win over Chicago State Nov. 30. The Redbirds also put up 40-plus bench points in wins over Omaha (41), Saint Francis (48) and UT Arlington (41).
A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING
Kate Bullman has registered two of the more impressive all-around stat lines in the MVC this season, including one in the win over Evansville. She finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, a season-high 6 blocks and five assists. Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoop Stats, Bullman's all-around performance Sunday was the first game with 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, 5+ blocks, and 4+ threes by anyone in the country in at least the last 15 seasons.
She up another impressive stat line in the win over Indiana State, finishing with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals. Per Wetzel, it was the first game by an MVC player since 2010 with 6-plus defensive rebounds, 5-plus blocks and 4-plus steals.
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