Redbirds Make Late Run, But Illinois Comes Away With 10-Point Win, 75-65

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – An early run for Illinois would stake the Illini to an early lead, but a late fourth-quarter 9-0 run by Illinois State would put the Redbirds within two before the Illini (2-0) pulled away for a 75-65 win over the Redbirds (1-1) on Sunday at the State Farm Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
•    Illinois jumped out to an 11-2 advantage, before head coach Kristen Gillespie called a timeout to calm her team down with 5:49 left in the first quarter. Back-to-back three-point makes by Nevaeh Thomas and Bella Finnegan would cut the Illini lead to 15-10 with 3:37 left and a layup by Kya Hurt in her first collegiate action would cut the lead to three at 15-12 a minute later.
•    Two free throws by Trista Fayta cut the Illinois lead to just four points at 20-16 with 14 seconds left in the opening frame, as the game moved to the second quarter of action.
•    The Illini started the second quarter on an 11-2 run, before a layup by Thomas put a stop to a near three-minute scoring drought for the Redbirds to make the score 31-20 four minutes in. ISU would hit four-straight field goals to trim the lead back to single digits at 35-26 on a jumper by Hurt with just over three minutes left before halftime.
•    A fastbreak layup by Jaeden Pratt with 36 seconds left in the quarter would cut the Illinois lead back to six at 37-31 and the score would stay there headed into the locker room at halftime.
•    The Redbirds came right out of the break firing, as a three-pointer by Bella Finnegan on the initial possession of the quarter cut the Illini lead to three at 37-34. The Illini would widen that lead back out to nine at 43-34, before a fastbreak layup by Addison Martin would force Illinois head coach Shauna Green to call her first timeout of the contest with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
•    Fayta drilled a three-pointer to cut the Illinois lead back to eight at 53-45 with 2:38 left in the quarter, but the Illini would connect on the final basket of the quarter to take a 55-45 lead into the final quarter of action.
•    A three-point play by Martin with 5:55 left in the game would cut the Illinois lead back to six at 58-52 and a layup by Martin on the Redbirds' next possession would trim it to a four-point lead. Two free throws by Doneelah Washington would extend the 9-0 run for ISU and cut the Illinois lead to just two at 58-56 with 4:43 to play.
•    Illinois would extend the lead back to six at 64-58, before a layup by Thomas would trim the lead back to four at 64-60 with two minutes remaining. The Illini lead would grow back to 10 at 70-60, before a three-point play by Thomas with 32.7 seconds left brought the score to 70-63, but the Illini would hold on for a 75-65 victory.

HIGHLIGHTS 
•    The Redbirds outrebounded the Illini 17-16 in the first half and held a 13-6 advantage in bench points scored.  
•    Thomas led the Redbirds in scoring with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and added three rebounds and four assists to cap off a strong day.
•    She led three Redbirds in double figures, as Martin scored 11 points in the second half to finish with 12 for her second double-digit effort of the year and Bella Finnegan added 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers in the contest, to go along with a team-best seven rebounds against the Illini.
•    Fayta was strong at the point once again for the Redbirds, scoring seven points while dishing out a team-high five assists.

UP NEXT 
The Redbirds are back in action on Wednesday, November 12, for their annual Education Day game against Chicago State, with tipoff set for 11 a.m. on Doug Collins Court at CEFCU Arena.

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