NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State women's basketball (16-9, 10-4) looks to extend a two-game win streak as the Redbirds host Belmont (16-9, 11-3) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. inside CEFCU Arena before traveling to battle Bradley (10-15, 4-10 MVC) Sunday at 2 p.m.
BLACKOUT
The Redbirds are set to host their 'Blackout' game Thursday vs the Bruins, with all fans encouraged to wear black. The first 600 students will receive a replica black jersey.
SERIES HISTORY
Belmont holds a 2-1 lead in the short series history between the Birds and Bruins. Belmont swept a pair of meetings last season, after Illinois State took a 70-56 victory over Belmont in the inaugural meeting during the 2022-23 campaign.
Sunday marks the 88th all-time meeting between Bradley and Illinois State. The Redbirds hold a 58-29 advantage in the series, which includes nine-straight wins over the Braves. That stands as Illinois State's third-longest active win streak over a current Valley member, behind Evansville (16) and Indiana State (12).
The Redbirds earned a 74-58 win over Bradley inside CEFCU Arena Jan. 26 behind 20 points from Elyce Knudsen and 17 points and 10 rebounds from Shannon Dowell.
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Elyce Knudsen earned her third MVC Newcomer of the Week honor of the year, as announced by the league office on Monday. She reached double-figures in a pair of outings last week, leading the Redbirds to road wins over Indiana State and Evansville.
She averaged 16.0 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game on 13-for-28 (46.4%) shooting from the floor and a 6-for-12 mark from deep across two performances last week. She put up 19 points and 6 rebounds Saturday against the Purple Aces on 8-for-16 shooting from the floor. The outing, which was the most points by a newcomer in a single game last week, followed a performance of 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks Thursday at Indiana State.
MAYA MILESTONES
Last week graduate guard Maya Wong reached a pair of milestones in her historic career as a Redbird.
Wong appeared in her 146th career game Thursday at Indiana State, setting a program record for career games played. She surpassed the previous mark of 145 by Nicolle Lewis (2005-10).
With a career-high tying nine assists Saturday at Evansville, Wong surpassed 500 career assists. She is the seventh player in program history with 500 career assists, and the first Redbird since Kristi Cirone (2009-10) to reach the milestone.
THE REDBIRD STATE
Illinois State is 6-0 on the year against in-state foes, continuing the Redbirds recent dominance over Land of Lincoln teams.
Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 41-9 overall against in-state foes and 20-1 against in-state foes over the last two seasons. Since the start of 2019-20, Illinois State is 23-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena and has won 13-straight home games against in-state teams.
This year marks the sixth-straight season the Redbirds have won 6-plus games against in-state foes.
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