NORMAL, Ill. -Â Illinois State Womens Basketball (13-6, 6-3 MVC) looks to take momentum on the road as the Redbirds battle Indiana State (7-12, 3-6 MVC) Sunday at Noon CT inside the Hulman Center on ESPN+ and the Redbird Sports Radio Network.
SERIES HISTORY
Illinois State leads the all-time series with Indiana State by a 59-45 margin, which includes wins in the last nine meetings. It is Illinois State's second-longest active winning streak against a current Missouri Valley Conference opponent. With a win, the run will join the Redbirds' 12-game winning streak over Evansville on the list of Illinois State's active double-digit winning streaks against MVC foes.
Illinois State swept both meetings with Indiana State last season, including an 82-71 win in Terre Haute that clinched the MVC Regular Season title in the regular season finale. Illinois State trailed by 10 in the second quarter before a strong second half propelled the Redbirds to a win over the Sycamores.
Two Redbirds finished with 20-plus points in the game, as DeAnna Wilson finished with 26 points, setting a career-high, while grabbing 8 rebounds. Robinson tallied 20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State rode a 24-point effort from DeAnna Wilson to hand MVC-leading Drake its first loss in conference play 79-70 Saturday at CEFCU Arena. DeAnna Wilson tallied her second-straight 20-plus point performance and her fourth in MVC play. She added 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in a strong all-round outing. Kate Bullman scored 9 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, hitting three-straight threes in a 9-0 personal scoring surge. She also had 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Abbie Aalsma has reached double figures in three straight games for the first time in her career. She was 2-for-4 from deep and finished with 10 points on the night.
The lead changed hands five times in the first quarter, before Illinois State used an 11-0 run to jump ahead 29-19 in the second. Aalsma netted a long ball while Wilson scored five straight to cap off the run and give Illinois State the first double-figure lead of the game. The Redbirds led the rest of the way and held off Drake for a thrilling win. Illinois State had an answer for every Drake run, including a three-minute stretch to open the third quarter where the Redbirds scored 11 points. Aalsma, Wong and Wilson hit from deep and the Redbirds led 48-37 at the 7:31 mark of the third. • Drake cut the Illinois State lead to three before Bullman scored nine straight points to put Illinois State back in front 72-62. Daijah Smith's and-1 with 2:14 to go all but secured the win for Illinois State.
VALLEY PLAYER OF THE WEEK (AGAIN)
For the third time this season, and the third time since the start of MVC play, DeAnna Wilson earned MVC Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. • Wilson leads the league this season with her third Valley Player of the Week honor, which have all come since the start of conference play. She is one of just two players this season that have earned multiple MVC Player of the Week honors (Grace Berg, Drake). She guided Illinois State to a pair of crucial home wins over UNI and Drake last week averaging 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game across the two victories while shooting 64% from the field.
Wilson opened with a 26-point performance against UNI Thursday that tied her career-high for the third time in MVC play and was her third performance of 25-plus points. She scored 15 points in the second half, and 11 points in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 8 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. Against Drake on Saturday she posted her fourth 20-plus point night in MVC play and her sixth of the 2023-2024 campaign, tallying 24 points and 7 boards in a thrilling win over Drake. Notably, Wilson outscored two fellow MVC player of the year candidates (UNI's Grace Boffeli and Drake's Katie Dinnebier) while handing them losses last week. Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoop Stats Wilson is the first MVC Player this year to put up 50-plus points in a two-game span on over 60% shooting.
It is the second time in her career that Wilson has earned three MVC player of the week honors in the same season, joining a 2021-2022 campaign where she tied for the most MVC Player of the Week honors. Her most recent selection was the sixth of her Illinois State career.
CLUTCH KATE
Kate Bullman turned in a pair of clutch offensive performances of Illinois State's wins over UNI and Drake as she averaged 10.5 points in the fourth quarter of the two victories. She poured in 12 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter against UNI. Her three pointer in the fourth quarter helped Illinois State jump back in front by double figures after UNI made a strong push. Against Drake, she scored nine straight points on a trio of threes during the surge.
Overall, she averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks across the two wins last week.
HOT SHOOTING 'BIRDS
Illinois State rode arguably its best two-game shooting stretch of Valley play to the wins over UNI and Drake last week. Across the two games, Illinois State shot 60-113 from the field (53.0%), 19-for-39 from deep (48.7%) and 28-for-34 from the free throw line (82.3%).
- After the performance from behind the arc, Illinois State climbed to 21st in NCAA DI with a mark of 36.7 percent from deep this season.
- The Redbirds shot 57.7 percent from the field against UNI, which tied for Illinois State's single-game best this season (Nov. 6 at Omaha).
- Against Drake, Illinois State shot north of 50% from deep for just the second time this season. (54.5 vs Saint Francis Nov. 19).
- The Redbirds' mark of 19-for-21 (90.5%) from the line against UNI was a season-best and the first time this year Illinois State has shot at least 90% from the free throw line in a single game.
GOOD AT GETTING TO THE LINE
The Redbirds have made opponents pay at the free throw line this season. Illinois State ranks 21st in NCAA DI with 22.00 free throw attempts per game. Meanwhile, the Redbirds have made good use of their trips to the line, tallying 16.79 free throws per game. That mark ranks 8th in NCAA DI and 2nd in the Valley. DeAnna Wilson and Maya Wong rank third and fourth in the Valley this season in made free throws. Wilson has netted 79 while Wong has made 78 on the year.
Illinois State made 15-plus free throws in four of their last five games, including a season-high of 31 vs Missouri State Jan. 14. The Redbirds hit 20-plus free throws in three straight games against Missouri State (31), Valparaiso (25) and UIC (20). Illinois State has made double-digit free throws in all but one Valley game this season. In fact, Illinois State hit 9 free throws against Drake, falling one free throw shy of hitting 10-plus in ten straight games.
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