Redbirds Win Second-Straight, Topple Evansville 79-55

NORMAL, IL – Senior Caroline Waite surpassed 1,000 career points for her collegiate career to help Illinois State women's basketball (8-6, 2-1 MVC) roll Evansville (4-10, 0-3 MVC) 79-55 Saturday inside CEFCU Arena.

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Waite led Illinois State with 14 points in the win, finishing 4-for-9 from deep. She connected from deep at the 2:02 mark of the third quarter to move above the 1,000-career point mark. She finished in double-figures for just the second time this season and hit 4+ three-pointers for the second time on the year (Dec. 5 vs St. Francis (IL)).

• Nevaeh Thomas tallied her fifth double-double of the year and second consecutive double-double, tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Thomas has finished with a double-double in four of the last six games and averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds across the pair of wins this week. 

• Doneelah Washington narrowly missed out on her second-straight double-double as she totaled 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Redbirds. She added four blocks to the performance, her third-straight outing with multiple blocks to open MVC play.  

• Shannon Dowell reached double-figures for the fourth consecutive game, while Elyce Knudsen did so for the fifth consecutive game. Dowell led Illinois State with 11 points in the first half, totaling 13 points overall to go with 5 rebounds. Knudsen knocked down a pair of threes and tallied 12 points in the win.  

• The Redbirds led 19-5 early in the first quarter and never looked back in the game. Dowell hit a pair of first quarter threes to help Illinois State build the cushion, forcing an Evansville timeout. The lead grew to as many as 36 for Illinois State in the second half, as nine different Redbirds registered a point.  

GAME NOTES 

• The Redbirds have finished with four-plus double-figure scorers in 12 of 14 games to open the season and five straight outings. Over the last two seasons, Illinois State has finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 25 games, and 5+ double-figure scorers in ten games. The Redbirds are 21-6 when putting four-plus players in double-figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. 

• Washington tallied four blocks for the second time in three games to open MVC play, moving her conference total to 10 thus far. That mark leads all MVC players since the start of league play. The Redbirds posted a season-high 8 blocks against the Purple Aces behind Washington's performance.  

• The Redbirds won their 15th consecutive meeting over Evansville, which is the program's longest-active win streak against a current Valley foe.  

• Illinois State grabbed 43 rebounds in the win, grabbing 40+ boards for the fourth time in the last five games. The Redbirds outrebounded their opponent for the eighth time in the last 10 games. 

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