CARBONDALE, Ill. – Behind an impressive 25-point, 10-rebound double-double from freshman Shannon Dowell, Illinois State Women's basketball escaped (19-8, 12-5 MVC) with a 75-66 road win over Southern Illinois (8-19, 3-14 MVC) Thursday at Banterra Center.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Led by 20-point efforts from Dowell and Wong, Illinois State overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime Thursday. Illinois State fought back to tie the game at 60 before the end of regulation, before outscoring Southern Illinois 15-6 in overtime.
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Dowell went 10-for-17 from the field to finish with a career-best 25 points. She added three assists to go with her 10 rebounds in the win. Wong put up just her second-career 20-point performance, finishing the night with 20 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists.
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Illinois State led for most of the game, including 28-23 in a slow first half. The Salukis held a 21-16 advantage before Illinois State closed the first half on a 12-2 run and gained the lead.
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The Redbirds nursed a two-possession lead for most of the third quarter, until the Salukis closed the third strong to lead 46-45. Southern Illinois took a 50-48 lead with 5:13 to play in regulation but Illinois State used a 6-0 run to jump ahead 54-50 and force a Saluki timeout. Southern Illinois answered with a 9-3 run to lead 59-56 with 31 seconds to play.
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With Illinois State's back against the wall, Dowell and Wong converted crucial buckets in the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime. Wong hit a floater with 14 seconds left to tie the game at 60.
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Illinois State took over from there, outscoring Southern Illinois 15-6 in overtime. Dowell and Wong combined for 13 of the 15 Illinois State points in overtime to lead Illinois State to the win.
GAME NOTES
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Dowell is the first MVC true freshman since 2017 to put up 25+ points and 10+ rebounds in a single game. She is the second Redbird true freshman in the Kristen Gillespie era to register a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Lexy Koudelka put up 20 points and 10 rebounds in 2019 at Bradley.
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Dowell tallied her second-career double-double in the win. She is the first true freshman in the Kristen Gillespie era to put up multiple double-doubles in their rookie campaign.
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Dowell is averaging 9 rebounds per game over the last three games, after grabbing 9 at Bradley on Feb. 22 and 8 in the win over Evansville on Sunday. Thursday was Dowell's fifth performance this season with 8-plus rebounds and her second performance with 10-plus rebounds.
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Kate Bullman tallied three blocks in the win, moving her to 179 blocks for her college career. That lifts Bullman into second in the Redbird record book and 9th in MVC history.
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A true freshman has led Illinois State in scoring in back-to-back games for the first time since 2015-2016. Savannah McGowan led Illinois State with a career-high 15 points in the win over Evansville Sunday.
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