NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's basketball team (9-8, 3-3 MVC) remained perfect at home with an 82-71 victory over Evansville (4-12, 2-3 MVC) on Sunday afternoon at CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds' 8–0 home record this season ties the best start at CEFCU Arena under head coach Kristen Gillespie, who received a commemorative ball before the game in recognition of becoming the 10th coach in Missouri Valley Conference history to reach 100 conference wins.
Putting together another dominant performance, sophomore Doneelah Washington secured her sixth-straight double-digit scoring effort with a career-high 26 points on 10 made field goals, while adding 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Washington is the fifth Redbird in the Gillespie era to record multiple 20-point, 10-rebound games in their career, joining Nevaeh Thomas, DeAnna Wilson, JuJu Redmond and Simone Goods.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Freshman Kya Hurt put the Redbirds on the board first. Evansville tied the game with a layup on the ensuing possession. After an ISU turnover, the Purple Aces swished a triple to take a 5-2 lead.
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The Redbirds answered that triple with an 11-0 run to jump ahead, 13-5. Washington narrowed ISU's deficit to one before a three-pointer from Hurt gave the Redbirds a 7-5 edge. A layup from Addison Martin extended the Redbirds' lead to four. Trista Fayta and Grace Nelson then etched their names in the scoring column with back-to-back layups, forcing Evansville to call a timeout with 5:35 left in the first period.
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Out of the timeout, Hurt made her third basket in as many attempts to surge the lead to double digits. Evansville eventually ended its 3:59 scoring drought with a layup and kept chipping away to cut its deficit down to five with 30 seconds remaining. The Redbirds led, 21-16, after the first 10 minutes of play.
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The Purple Aces scored on their first possession in the second quarter to make it a three-point game, but Hurt converted on another mid-range jumper, and Washington swatted a three-point attempt and then executed a nice move near the basket to extend the Birds' lead back to seven.
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Evansville never let up, though, hitting a trey to cut ISU's advantage to two with under six minutes to play in the half. The Redbirds responded with a 5-0 run, highlighted by an offensive rebound from Martin that led to a second-chance three-point jumper for Bella Finnegan. The Redbirds were in front, 32-25, at the second quarter media timeout.
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The first points out of the media timeout came on a trey from Washington, marking her sixth-straight game with a made field goal from beyond the arc. The Purple Aces then went on a run of their own, making a layup and swishing two triples to trail by two with 1:17 left in the second quarter. ISU ended the half strong, as Madison Austin and Washington each converted both of their free throws to give the Redbirds a 39-33 advantage heading into the locker room.
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ISU extended its lead to 10 with 7:23 left in the third period, but Evansville went on a 7-0 run over 55 seconds to make it, 45-42. Hurt ended the Birds' two-minute scoring drought with a layup to put ISU head by five at the first media timeout with 4:31 left.
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By the next media timeout at 2:22, ISU had extended its lead to 10 after two layups from Washington, three free throws from Martin and a trey from Nelson. Finnegan hit her second triple of the game, and Washington increased her point total to 19 with a layup to give the Redbirds an 11-point edge, their biggest lead of the game, heading into the fourth quarter.
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ISU went on a 6-0 run over 44 seconds, capped off by Nelson's second three of the game, to extend the Birds' lead to 15 and force an Evansville timeout with 6:15 remaining in the contest. After missing the last three games, Zanyra Adams checked in and splashed a free throw to join eight other Redbirds in the scoring column. The Birds kept their lead in the double-digits for the remainder of the game, as Martin and Washington headed the offense with 6 and 7 points, respectively, in the final 10 minutes to cap off an 82-71 victory.
HIGHLIGHTS
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The Redbirds have started 8-0 at home for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
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The Redbirds have protected home court well over the last four years, posting a 47-9 record since the start of the 2022-23 season.
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Hurt led the Redbird offense in the first quarter, shooting 3-for-4 from the field with seven points.
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Washington scored nine points in the second quarter to total a game-tying 11 points at the break.
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Fayta may have scored just four points in the first half, but her presence was felt in other ways, as she led the team with five rebounds and four assists and added two steals in the first 20 minutes.
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ISU had three scorers in double-figures by the end of the third quarter.
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Martin showed her effectiveness on both ends of the floor, scoring 19 points while recording six assists, five boards, one steal and one block.
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Four Redbirds scored in double figures: Washington (26), Martin (19), Hurt (11) and Nelson (10). The Redbirds have finished with four-plus double-figure scorers in nine games so far this season. ISU is 39-11 when putting four-plus in double figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. Over the last three seasons, ISU has finished with four-plus double figure scorers in 50 games.
UP NEXT
ISU finishes off a three-game homestand with a conference contest against Valparaiso on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. inside CEFCU Arena.
