NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State women's basketball (11-7, 5-2 MVC) opens a three-game homestand at CEFCU Arena as the Redbirds host Bradley (8-10, 2-5 MVC) Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
SERIES HISTORY
The Redbirds have won eight consecutive meetings with Bradley, the Redbirds third-longest active win streak over a current Valley foe. Illinois State is 57-29 all-time against the Braves and 30-12 against the Braves at home.
Illinois State swept a pair of meetings with Bradley last season, winning 78-74 inside CEFCU Arena and 68-50 in Peoria. The Redbirds have not lost to Bradley since a 66-62 defeat at CEFCU Arena in Feb. of 2020.
MONEY MARTIN
Addi Martin has reached double-figures in four consecutive games for the second time this season, averaging 13.0 points per game over the last four outings. She is also putting up 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 22-for-30 (73.3%) shooting over that four-game stretch. Martin scored a season-high 16 points in the win over UIC Sunday, her first game this season with 15+ points.
Martin is shooting 75.0% from the field in MVC play, which leads the conference, along with 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. She has shot north of 65% in every Valley game this season, the only player in the league to do so.
ELITE ELYCE
Elyce Knudsen ranks fourth among all active players with 2,484 career points as of Jan. 24, behind Katelyn Young (Murray State, 2,602) and Aneesah Morrow (LSU, 2,552). She is 16 points shy of joining Young and Morrow as the only active players with 2,500 career points.
Knudsen tallied 2,274 points in her career as a Division III All-American at Millikin.
CAREER MILESTONE
Head coach Kristen Gillespie is one win shy of 250 in her coaching career. She is 249-154 in 14 seasons as a head coach, which includes a 144-89 mark at Illinois State. Gillespie is tied with former head coach Robin Pingeton (2003-10) for the second most wins in program history.
THE REDBIRD STATE
Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 39-9 against in-state foes and 21-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena. That includes wins over Northwestern Nov. 6, Saint Francis Dec. 5, Chicago State Dec. 15 and UIC Jan. 19 this year, which improved the Redbirds to 18-1 against in-state foes over the last three seasons
The Redbirds have won 11 straight games against in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena.
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