CARBONDALE, Ill. – Elyce Knudsen and Shannon Dowell combined for 53 points to help Illinois State women's basketball (20-11, 14-6 MVC) end the regular season on top of Southern Illinois (4-25, 2-18 MVC) 99-86 Saturday inside Banterra Center.  

HIGHLIGHTS 

• Knudsen scored a season-high 28 points, knocking down a career-high 7 three pointers. She was 10-for-16 from the floor and 7-for-9 from deep in Saturday's win. She also tallied 5 assists and 2 seals in the performance.  

• Dowell put up 25 points, scoring 19 points in the second half, along with 5 rebounds and three assists. She took control in the third quarter, scoring 10 points to help the Redbirds take a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter. 

• Nevaeh Thomas flirted with a triple-double Saturday, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 8 assists. She scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including an old-fashioned three-point play at the 3:59 mark that put Illinois State up 90-77.  

• Addi Martin was the final Redbird in double figures, as she put up 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the win.  

• The Redbirds raced out to a 52-32 halftime lead, led by the 17 points from Knudsen at the break. However Southern Illinois outscored the Redbirds 54-47 in the second half to fight within as few as nine points in the fourth quarter.  

• Knudsen scored the final nine points of the first half for Illinois State on a trio of threes. Her final three of the first half beat the buzzer and sent the Redbirds into the locker room with a 20-point cushion.  

• Dowell caught fire in the third quarter after scoring Illinois State's first bucket to open the second half. Her score at the 7:11 mark of the quarter gave Illinois State its largest lead of the game at 60-37.  

• The Salukis fought within 84-75 with 5:26 to go but a 10-0 scoring run was enough to pull away from Southern Illinois and secure a win.  

GAME NOTES 

• With the win Illinois State improved to 8-1 this season against in-state foes and 22-2 against in-state teams over the last two seasons. Since the start of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Redbirds are 43-10 against in-state foes and 24-2 vs in-state foes inside CEFCU Arena.  

• The Redbirds earned their seventh consecutive victory over Southern Illinois, which is the program's fourth-longest active win streak over a current Valley foe. It is behind streaks of eight straight wins over Valparaiso, 12 straight wins over Indiana State and 16 straight wins over Evansville. 

• Illinois State earned its 20th victory of the season, securing a 20-win campaign for the third straight season. It marks the first time the program has earned three consecutive 20-win seasons since 2008-09 to 2010-11, during a streak of five-straight 20-win campaigns. Illinois State, currently the only DI women's team in Illinois to earn 20 wins this season, holds the longest active streak of 20-win seasons by a DI women's program in the state of Illinois.  

• Illinois State tallied 26 assists in the win, finishing with 20+ assists for the eighth time this season and the sixth time in MVC play.  

• Illinois State shot 38-56 (58.5%) from the field in the win, shooting north of 50% in a single game for the 14th time this season. It marked the 11th time the Redbirds have shot 50% or better from the floor in MVC play this year. 

• The Redbirds held a 30-29 advantage on the glass, winning the rebounding battle for the 20th time this season and improving to 17-3 when outrebounding their opponent this year.  

• Knudsen is just the eighth player in program history to tally 7+ threes in a single game. She knocked down the most threes by a Redbird since Paige Robinson tallied 7 threes in a 37-point home performance versus in Wisconsin in 2022.  

• The Redbirds finished with 4+ double-figure scorers for the 22nd time this season. Illinois State is 29-9 when putting 4+ in double-figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. 

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