Redbirds Return Home For Contest Against Saint Louis

SETTING THE SCENE
The non-conference start to the season for Illinois State continues on Friday night, when the Redbirds (3-1) host the visiting Saint Louis Billikens (1-4) at CEFCU Arena with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. The Redbirds will be looking for their third-straight victory heading into next week's Puerto Rico Shootout in San Juan.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Saint Louis will meet for the 7th time in program history, with the series knotted, 3-3. The two teams first played in 2018, and the Redbirds won, 72-67. Their last meeting came in 2024, when the Billikens won, 78-71. ISU is 3-0 against Saint Louis inside CEFCU Arena and 0-3 when playing at Chaifetz Arena. Contests between these two squads have always been close, with the largest margin of victory coming in a 77-66 Redbird win in 2021.

THE FASTBREAK
• ISU is coming off a 59-44 win on Tuesday over Loyola Chicago. The Redbirds ended the game on a 15-2 run.With the win, the Redbirds improved to 3-1 and picked up their first road win of season.
• The Redbirds had three players in double figures, led by Addison Martin's 15 point and nine rebound effort.
• Doneelah Washington recorded her first double-double of the year, scoring 11 points while grabbing a career-high 13 boards against the Ramblers.
• The 100-point output for the Redbirds against Chicago State was their first since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December.
• Nevaeh Thomas was one of five Redbirds in double figures, with 15 points and nine rebounds in addition to four assists and a blocked shot against the Cougars.
• ISU outscored Dayton by 11 points in the third quarter to pull away for an 87-76 win in the 2025-26 season opener. The Redbirds had four players in doubles figures as ISU won its fourth-straight season opener and its sixth in the last seven seasons overall. 
• Illinois State advanced to the WNIT Semifinal for the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2011. The Redbirds made three consecutive WNIT semifinal runs from 2009-11, earning six wins over Power 5 foes across the three runs. The Redbirds made their 16th appearance all-time in the WNIT and their fourth trip to the WNIT in Kristen Gillespie's tenure.
• The Redbirds were 24-13 overall last season, including a 14-6 mark in MVC play and a 14-4 record at home.ISU secured a 20-win campaign for the third-straight season, a streak that leads all DI women's teams in the state of Illinois. 
• ISU returns seven players from last season's squad that advanced to the WNIT Fab 4, including MVC All-Freshman team selection Washington and All-MVC Newcomer team member Martin. 
• Martin and Thomas were listed among several MVC women's basketball "Players to Watch" for this season.

SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
•  Saint Louis returned four players from last season's squad that went 15-19 overall and 7-11 in Atlantic 10 play.
•The Billikens welcomed eight newcomers, including four freshmen, three transfers and one player from the university's women's soccer team, Ellie Paloucek.
• Head coach Rebecca Tillett is in her fourth season at Saint Louis and eighth overall. She guided the Billikens to their first Atlantic 10 tournament title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2022-23.
•  The Billikens are led in scoring by transfer point guard Zya Nugent, who averages 16.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
• Freshman center Alyssa Koerkenmeier is a force down low for Saint Louis, pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game. She also leads the conference and ranks 16th in the NCAA with 2.6 blocks per game. 
• Alexia Nelson has also been consistent for the Billikens this season, scoring 13.6 points and dishing out three assists per game. She also leads the conference playing 36.4 minutes per contest.

DONEELAH DOWN LOW
• In Illinois State's 59-44 win over Loyola, Doneelah Washington secured a career-high 13 boards. Her average this season is now 9.3 rebounds per game, which ranks third in the MVC. Washington also sits in third in the conference with 1.5 blocked shots per game.
• Nevaeh Thomas was the last Redbird to grab at least 10 boards in a game, totaling 11 against Southern Illinois on March 8, 2025.

SHOOTING EFFICIENCY
•The Redbirds lead the MVC and rank 48th in the nation in team field goal percentage at .472.
•Individually, three Redbirds sit in the top-six in field goal percentage in the MVC, including Nevaeh Thomas (1st, .667), Doneelah Washington (2nd, .586) and Addison Martin (6th, .511).

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
• Illinois State's final basket of the game with just 33 seconds left put the Redbirds over the century mark with 101 points, much to the delight of the thousands of kids in the stands chanting for 100 against Chicago State.
• It marked the first 100-point output for the Redbirds was since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December, and it was the fourth time under head coach Kristen Gillespie that ISU eclipsed the century mark.

THREEBAY UNLOCKED
• The first basket for Illinois State against Dayton was a three-pointer, but it came from an unexpected shooter in Doneelah Washington who made her first two career shots from beyond the arch against the Flyers.
• That performance sparked a big day for the sophomore from Nebraska, who became the first Redbird since the 2009-10 season with 20+ points in a game on a perfect night shooting from the field.

FAYTA TAKES OVER
• In her first career start, Trista Fayta tallied the first double-double of her career with 19 points and 10 assists against Dayton.
• Her complete performance turned out to be a unique one, as Fayta become just the second MVC player in the last 14 seasons to put up 19 points, 10 assists and 4 or more steals in a game.
• With her 10 assists, she became the first Redbirds to post double digit assists since JuJu Redmond in 2022.
• She currently leads the MVC and ranks 19th in the NCAA with 6.3 assist per game.

BALANCED EFFORT
• The Redbirds finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 25 games last season and did so again in the 2025-26 opener against Dayton. Illinois State is 33-9 when putting 4+ in double-figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
 • Over the last three seasons, Illinois State has finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 42 games, and 5+ double-figure scorers in 13 games. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH 
• Illinois State returns seven players from last season's squad that advanced to the WNIT Fab 4, including MVC All-Freshman team selection Doneelah Washington and All-MVC Newcomer team member Addison Martin. 
• Martin and Nevaeh Thomas were listed among several MVC women's basketball "Players to Watch" for the upcoming 2025-26 season. 
• Martin started all 37 games for Illinois State and was one of six Redbirds to break the program's single-season record for games played. The Shreveport, Louisiana, native reached double figures in 18 games, including two 20+ point performances, with a season-high of 23 points scored against SIU.
• Thomas averaged 12.1 points per game, a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game while ranking fifth in the MVC shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Thomas scored in double figures in 29 games, including the first 15 outings of the season, and tallied ten double-doubles, becoming just the sixth player in program history to tally 10+ double-doubles in a single season.