NORMAL, Ill. – Postseason college basketball comes to CEFCU Arena for the second-consecutive season as Illinois State women's basketball (21-12, 14-6 MVC) hosts Western Illinois (17-16, 8-12 OVC) Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Second Round of the 2025 WNIT.
Tickets are on sale now at goredbirds.com/tickets and are $12 for the general public and $7 for students and youth. The first 100 Illinois State students will get free admission.
The winner advances to take on Central Arkansas or Abilene Christian in the WNIT Super 16. Date, time and location will be announced at a later time.
WNIT HISTORY
Illinois State makes its 16th appearance all-time in the WNIT and its fourth trip to the WNIT in Gillespie's tenure. The Redbirds have earned a WNIT bid for the third consecutive season.
Illinois State is 16-10 overall in the WNIT since 2000, which includes a win over Charleston last season inside CEFCU Arena that booked a trip to the 2024 WNIT Super 16. The Redbirds are 13-3 at home in the WNIT since 2000, as this year marks the second-straight season the Redbirds will host postseason basketball at CEFCU Arena.
POSTSEASON STAPLE
Illinois State earned its fifth-straight postseason bid under head coach Kristen Gillespie, which includes a trip to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
It marks just the second time in the NCAA era (1981-82 to pres.) that the program has earned a postseason bid in at five consecutive seasons. In the longest consecutive postseason stretch in the program's NCAA history, Illinois State earned seven-straight bids from 2007 to 2013. That included a 2008 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, one of six in the history of the program.
SERIES HISTORY
The Redbirds and Leathernecks have not met since 2020, in an 85-55 win for Illinois State in Macomb. The Redbirds lead the all-time series 43-4 over Western Illinois, including a pair of wins under head coach Kristen Gillespie.
THE REDBIRD STATE
Sunday marks the 11th in-state foe for the Redbirds this season. Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 44-10 against in-state foes and 24-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena. That includes a 9-1 mark against in-state foes this year, which improved the Redbirds to 23-2 against in-state teams over the last three seasons.
MVC HONORS
Four Redbirds earned MVC honors following the regular season.
Shannon Dowell earned All-MVC second team honors. She ranked fifth in the Valley averaging 16.9 points per game on 48.7% shooting from the floor. Dowell tallied 16 double-figure scoring performances and seven 20+ point outings. She also tallied three double-doubles in MVC play.
Elyce Knudsen earned MVC Newcomer Team honors, after averaging 14.0 points per game in MVC play on 45.4% shooting from the floor and 43.4% shooting from deep. Knudsen earned a league-best five MVC Newcomer of the Week honors.
Addison Martin also earned MVC Newcomer Team honors this season. She led the league with a mark of 58.7% percent shooting from the floor in MVC play and averaged 12.3 points per game with 5.8 rebounds per game. She was a three-time winner of MVC Newcomer of the Week.
Doneelah Washington landed on the MVC Freshman team. She led all freshmen with 25 blocks in Valley play, ranking fifth among all Valley players. Washington earned three MVC Freshman of the Week honors this season.
SHANNON SCORING MARK
Dowell has surpassed 500 points on the year, becoming just the third Redbird in program history to score 500 points in their freshman or sophomore season. She joined Hall of Famers Kristi Cirone (2005-09) and Cathy Boswell (1979-83) as the only Redbirds in program history to accomplish that feat. Cirone ranks No.1 in program history with 2,139 career points while Boswell ranks second with 2,005 career points.
Overall Dowell's 548 points this season ranks ninth in program history. She is 30 points shy of climbing into the top five of Illinois State's single-season scoring list. Dowell is the 16th player in program history to score 500+ points in a single season and the fourth player to do so under Kristen Gillespie.
With 866 career points, Dowell currently has the third-highest scoring total all-time for a Redbird before the end of their sophomore season. She is behind Cirone and Boswell.
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