Redbirds Return Home For In-State Showdown With Eastern Illinois

SETTING THE SCENE
After playing its last four contests away from home, Illinois State (4-5) will return to the friendly environment of CEFCU Arena on Sunday when the Redbirds host in-state foe Eastern Illinois (1-7) in a non-conference matchup. It will be the first of three home games in the month of December for the Redbirds on Doug Collins Court, when they have posted a 31-6 record over the past three seasons.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Eastern Illinois will meet for the 42nd time in program history and first time since 2016 on Sunday afternoon inside CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds lead the all-time series, 32-9, and hold a 16-4 record at home against the Panthers. The first meeting between the two squads came on Jan. 13, 1973, when ISU won, 56-50. The most recent matchup in 2016 ended in a 60-49 Redbird victory. ISU has won eight of the last 10 contests versus EIU. The Redbirds hope to continue their streak of 15 straight wins at home against in-state opponents, including a 1-0 mark this season.

THE FASTBREAK
• ISU fell, 68-54, in its MVC opener against UNI on Wednesday.
• Trista Fayta produced an all-around performance against UNI, scoring a game-high 19 points while adding seven assists and six boards.
• Doneelah Washington recorded a new-career high with three triples against the Panthers.
• 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 last week.
 •Addison 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.
• Kya Hurt scored a career-high 16 points against the Billikens, including a 6-for-7 effort at the charity stripe.
• The 100-point output for the Redbirds against Chicago State was their first since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December.
• 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. 
• 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. 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• Eastern Illinois sits at 1-7 on the season.
• Marqus McGlothan is in his second season at the helm of the Panthers, acting as the interim head coach last season before being promoted to full-time head coach in March.
• Ava Stoller leads the Panthers with 12.9 points and 3.3 assists per contest. The junior also leads the Ohio Valley Conference shooting .889 from the charity stripe.
• Abbie Boutilier leads the team down low, collecting 5.9 boards per game. The Texas transfer's 1.8 blocked shots per game ranks second in the OVC.
• The Panthers lead the OVC as a team with 4.25 blocked shots per game.

THE REDBIRD STATE
• Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 46-12 against in-state foes and 24-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena.
• The Redbirds are 2-1 against in-state foes this season and 1-0 at home.
• Illinois State went 10-1 against in-state foes last season and 8-1 during the 2023-24 campaign.
• Illinois State has won 6-plus games over in-state foes in each of the last six seasons.
• The Redbirds have won 15 straight games against in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena. 

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.
• Fayta has led the Redbirds in assists in eight of nine contests, including six straight games.
• 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 with 5.7 assists per game.

MONEY MARTIN
• Addison Martin currently leads the MVC in minutes played per game (35.8).
• She ranks 10th in the conference in scoring with 14.7 points per contest. She is the only player ranked in the top 10 in scoring without a made three-pointer.
• The redshirt senior has scored in double figures in all nine games this season and leads the team with two 20-point outings.
• 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. 

MVC OPENERS
• Illinois State is now 5-4 in MVC openers under head coach Kristen Gillespie (2017-Pres.).  
• The Redbirds opened Valley play on the road for the third time under Gillespie (2017 at UNI, 2024 at Murray State).
• The Dec. 4 game against UNI marked Illinois State's earliest game ever against an MVC foe.

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.

DONEELAH DOWN LOW
• Doneelah 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 while also adding five steals and a blocked shot versus Saint Louis.
• Washington's five steals against Saint Louis are the most in a single game for a Redbird since Terrion Moore had seven at Loyola Chicago on March 5, 2021.
• Washington ranks third in the MVC in rebounds (9.5), eighth in blocked shots (1.1) and 10th in steals (1.6) per game.
• Washington is one of four 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 and Madison Booker of Texas.

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.
• 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. 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

20+ WIN SEASON
• Illinois State secured a 20-win campaign for the third consecutive season under head coach Kristen Gillespie in 2024-25, marking the first time since 2008-09 to 2010-11 that the program has earned three consecutive seasons with 20+ wins. 
• Illinois State's 24 wins last season tie the 2022-23 squad for the most in a single season under head coach Kristen Gillespie.