NORMAL, Ill. – With over 5,000 local middle school and junior high students in attendance at CEFCU Arean on Wednesday, Illinois State used a 31-point first quarter output to take a big lead early against Chicago State and never looked back and the Redbirds improved to 2-1 on the season with a 101-52 victory over the Cougars on Education Day in front of a crowd of 7,629 fans.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Illinois State jumped out to a 20-4 lead thanks to a 12-0 run that lasted over three minutes, as freshman Kya Hurt connected on a running jumper in the lane to stake the Redbirds to a big lead with four-plus minutes left in the first quarter. That run would extend to 17-2 over five minutes as a three-pointer by Grace Nelson put the Redbirds up 25-6 with 2:39 left.
• ISU would end the first quarter on a 6-0 run that was capped off on a three-pointer by Trista Fayta as the Redbirds took a 20-point lead at 31-11 into the second 10 minutes of play.
• The second quarter was not as fast paced for the Redbirds however they managed to still outscore the Cougars 24-11 in the period to send the game to halftime with a 55-22 lead.
• The Redbirds would go on a 9-0 run and a 14-2 run overall midway through the third quarter to widen the lead to 71-31 .. that run included a pair of free throws by Zanyra Adams that brought the score to 67-31, much to the delight of the kids in the crowd.
• ISU would cap off the game outscoring Chicago State 24-15 in the final quarter of play to come away with the 101-52 victory.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The 100-point output for the Redbirds was their first since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December.
• With the win, ISU improves to 6-0 all-time against Chicago State, with a pair of 100-point performances in two of the last three contests in the series.
• Nevaeh Thomas led the Redbirds in scoring with 15 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds in addition to four assists and a blocked shot.
• Thomas was one of five Redbirds in double figures, with freshman Jaeden Pratt right behind with a career-best 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds.
• Hurt also had a career-high with 13 points while adding five assists in 20 minutes of action.
• Addison Martin was in double figures for the third game in a row, finishing with 10 points including a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe, and Adams finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals in third game as a Redbird.
• Doneelah Washington also just missed out on a double-double, as she finished with seven points and nine rebounds to go along with a career-high tying four blocked shots.
UP NEXT
Illinois State will head to Chicago to take on Loyola in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, November 18, at Gentile Arena, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. against the Ramblers.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
