Redbirds Set To Host Oakland In Final Non-Conference Tuneup

SETTING THE SCENE
After a tough road contest against No. 24 Nebraska, Illinois State returns home to CEFCU Arena to host Oakland in the final non-conference matchup of the season on Friday night. The Redbirds (5-6) and the Golden Grizzlies (3-7) will tip off at 6:30 p.m.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Oakland will meet for the sixth time in program history on Friday night to close out the Redbirds' non-conference slate. The Golden Grizzlies lead the all-time series, 3-2, but the Redbirds hold a one-game winning streak, prevailing in the last matchup, 62-56, on Nov. 29, 2018. Before then, ISU hadn't beat Oakland since the program's first meeting in 1979, when the Redbirds won, 79-71. Oakland and ISU have shared one common opponent so far this season in Loyola Chicago. The Grizzlies fell to the Ramblers, 59-56, while the Redbirds beat their in-state foe, 59-44.

THE FASTBREAK
• Illinois State is coming off an 85-44 defeat to the then-No. 24 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
• Kya Hurt set a new career high with 18 points against the Huskers, topping her previous high of 16 points set earlier this season against Saint Louis
• Addison Martin scored in double figures for the 11th straight game with 12 points and five boards versus Nebraska.
• Jaeden Pratt had the best game of her young career in ISU's win over Eastern Illinois, recording a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds while going 6-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
• Doneelah Washington notched a career-high seven steals against Eastern Illinois, the most in a single game for a Redbird since Terrion Moore had seven at Loyola Chicago on March 5, 2021. She also added 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.
• Trista Fayta produced an all-around performance against UNI, scoring a game-high 19 points while adding seven assists and six boards.
• Washington recorded a new-career high with three triples against UNI.
• Madison Austin pulled down a career-high six boards in just under 11 minutes of play against UNI.
• ISU went 0-3 against Rice, East Carolina and Wake Forest at the Puerto Rico Shootout.
 • Martin led the offense during the tournament, scoring a season-high 22 points and grabbing eight boards against Rice.
• Martin recorded her first double-double of the season versus East Carolina with 11 points and 10 rebounds while adding three assists and a steal.
• Washington earned her third double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 boards while matching a career-high with two three-pointers against Wake Forest.
• Bella Finnegan finished with a season-best 16 points, going 4-for-6 from behind the arc against Saint Louis.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Keisha Newell is in her first season at the helm of the Golden Grizzlies. Before arriving at Oakland in March, Newell lead the Lewis University Flyers to three straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
• Cali Denson ranks first in three-point field goals made per game (2.4), second in free throw percentage (.867) and 10th in scoring (12.2 points) in the Horizon League.
• Lianna Baxter is the lone player to start all 10 games for Oakland this season, averaging 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds.
• Makenzie Luehring (3.1) and Filippa Goula (2.7) both rank in the top seven in the league in assists per contest.
• Layla Gold sits in third in blocked shots (1.3) and 11th in rebounds (5.5) per game in the league.

CLOSING OUT NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
• Friday's game against Oakland will mark ISU's final non-conference contest of the season.
• The Redbirds currently hold a 5-5 record in non-conference play this season and are 64-48 overall in those games during Kristen Gillespie's tenure (2017-Pres.)

CAREER HIGH FOR HURT
• In her second straight start, freshman Kya Hurt set a new career high with 18 points to lead all scorers in last Sunday's contest against the Huskers of the Big Ten.
• This 18-point outing topped her previous high of 16 points set earlier this season against Saint Louis

MONEY MARTIN
• Addison Martin currently leads the MVC in minutes played per game (35.5).
• The redshirt senior has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season and leads the team with two 20-point outings.
• She ranks 11th in the conference in scoring with 14 points per contest. She is one of two players ranked in the top 11 in scoring without a made three-pointer.
• Martin led the MVC shooting 58.7% from the field in Valley play last season. She shot north of 50% in 16 MVC games, more than any player in the Valley. 
• She had two 20+ outings in MVC play last season. That included a season-high performance of 23 points vs Southern Illinois Jan. 31, her first 20-point performance as a Redbird. She finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds at Drake Feb. 7. 

DONEELAH DOWN LOW
• Doneelah Washington's career-high five blocked shots against Nebraska are the most in a single-game for a Redbird since Kate Bullman had six versus Evansville on Feb. 25, 2024.
• Washington's career-high seven steals against Eastern Illinois are the most for a Redbird since Terrion Moore had seven at Loyola Chicago on March 5, 2021.
• Washington ranks third in the MVC in rebounds (9.3), second in blocked shots (1.8) and second in steals (2.2) per game.
• Washington is one of five DI players with 15+ points, 10+ rebounds, 5+ steals and 4+ assists in a single game this season, joining UConn's Sarah Strong, Saint Joseph's Aleah Snead, Madison Booker of Texas and Jeni Levine from UNC Greensboro.
• Washington is currently the only MVC player ranked in the top-three in the league in rebounds, offensive rebounds, blocks and steals.
• Washington recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Wake Forest.
• The sophomore forward scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 14 boards versus Saint Louis.

AGAINST BIG TEN & RANKED FOES
• After falling to then-No. 24 Nebraska, ISU is 0-2 against Big Ten opponents this season
• The Redbirds now hold a 6-15 record against Big Ten opponents since the 2010-11 season.
• ISU is now 1-8 against AP top-25 teams during head coach Kristen Gillespie's tenure (2017-Pres.).

GEM FROM JAEDEN
• Freshman Jaeden Pratt, a starter in the first nine games, came off the bench and had the best game of her young career against Eastern Illinois. She recorded a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds while going 6-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
• Pratt headed a 9-0 run for the Redbirds in the second quarter, scoring a layup and a triple to force the Panthers to call a timeout with 2:15 left in the first half.
• The guard from Ankeny, Iowa, posted a seven-point third quarter.

FAYTA TAKES OVER
• Fayta produced an all-around performance against UNI on Wednesday, scoring a game-high 19 points while adding seven assists and six boards.
• In her first career start, 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 is tied for 40th in the NCAA with 5.2 assists per game.

MVC HONORS
• After helping the Redbirds to a pair of wins, Illinois State's Doneelah Washington and Kya Hurt both earned weekly player honors from the Missouri Valley Conference on Nov. 24. Washington was named the MVC Player of the Week, while Hurt was tabbed as the MVC Freshman of the Week by the league office.
• Washington delivered a dominant two-game stretch against Loyola and Saint Louis, averaging a double-double with 13.0 points and 13.5 rebounds
• Hurt made a major impact off the bench, averaging 11.5 points while shooting 50 percent from the field in the two victories.

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 against Chicago State.
• It marked the first 100-point output for the Redbirds 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.
• She became the first Redbird since the 2009-10 season with 20+ points in a game on a perfect night shooting from the field.
• Washington recorded a new-career high with three triples against UNI.

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 35-10 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 45 games, and 5+ double-figure scorers in 14.
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.