Redbirds Close Out Close Battle With UNI Late, Win 59-55

NORMAL, Ill. – A rough first half shooting for both teams on Thursday night resulted in a 20-19 lead for Illinois State over UNI at halftime, but a more fast-paced second half resulted in eight ties and lead changes before the Redbirds (12-9, 6-4 MVC) pulled away late for a big 59-55 win over the Panthers (10-10, 6-4 MVC) to improve to 10-0 at CEFCU Arena this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
•    The Redbirds got out to a quick 6-3 lead, after back-to-back three-pointers by Kya Hurt and Jaeden Pratt to start the contest.
•    Both the ISU and UNI struggled from the field for most of the remainder of the first quarter, before the Panthers tied the game at 8-8 with just over a minute to play. 
•    UNI took a 10-8 lead just over two minutes into the second quarter, before De'Shawnti Thomas drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key a minute later to make it 11-10 in favor of the Redbirds. Thomas then nailed another triple, this one from the right elbow, to extend the Redbird lead to 14-10 with 6:02 left in the second.
•    After the Panthers knotted things up at 14-14, the Redbirds went on a 6-2 run capped off on a three-pointer by Trista Fayta to extend the lead to 20-16 with 3:31 remaining before the break. UNI would get a basket just as time expired to cut the ISU lead to one at 20-19 at halftime.
•    A three-pointer by Fayta right out of the break moved the lead to four points for ISU and the two teams traded buckets over the next four minutes with the Redbirds holding a one score advantage until the official's time out. Doneelah Washington scored her first points of the contest during the stretch with six points including four makes from the charity stripe.
•    The lead would grow to 38-31 as Washington scored on a jumper in the lane, as the Panthers went over three minutes without points until a layup by UNI's Ryley Goebel cut the ISU lead to 38-33 with 2:24 left in the third quarter.
•    Five-straight points by the Panthers with under a minute to play would cut the Redbird lead to one, before a layup by Hurt put the lead back to three at 41-38 but a three at the buzzer by UNI would knot the game at 41-41 headed to the fourth.
•    Hurt got the Redbirds on the scoreboard two minutes into the fourth quarter with her second trey of the game to give the Redbirds the lead back at 44-41 and Fayta followed with a triple of her own to widen the ISU advantage to six at 47-41 with 6:50 left in the game.
•    UNI would answer with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 50-49 on a three-pointer by Jenna Twedt at the 4:55 mark. A running jumper in the lane by Hurt would then snap a three-plus minute scoring drought for the Redbirds to give them the lead back at 51-50.
•    The back-and-forth continued, as the Panthers regained the lead before that was answered by a jumper by Addison Martin with 2:26 left. Another three by Twedt would then give UNI a 55-53 lead, before Fayta was fouled and made both of her free throws to tie the game at 55-55 with 1:37 remaining.
•    A block by Pratt on the defensive end of the floor would result in a layup by Martin that gave the Redbirds the lead back at 57-55 with 20 seconds left in the contest. The Panthers had fouls to give and used them until Hurt was fouled and went to the line with 1.9 seconds left and drilled them both to bring the score to 59-55. The Panthers would get one more shot off to no avail, as the Redbirds evened the season series at 1-1.

HIGHLIGHTS 
•    The Redbirds improved to 10-0 at home for the first time since the 2019-20 season with the victory.
•    The eight three-pointers made by the Redbirds were their most since drilling 10 at Belmont on Jan. 4.
•    Thomas finished with a career-best six points in a Redbird uniform with her two big three-pointers, her first two from long range this season.
•    After not scoring in the first half, Washington finished with 11 points and eight rebounds to help the Redbirds win.
•    Hurt led the Redbirds with 16 points and Fayta added 11 points to round out a trio of Redbirds in double figures. 
•    On her birthday, Martin scored a huge bucket late and finished with eight points and three rebounds.
•    Pratt finished with a career-high four blocks, one shy of the team lead of five this season held by Washington.

UP NEXT 
Illinois State will continue its homestand on Sunday, when the Redbirds welcome in I-74 rival Bradley for its annual Play 4 Kay game. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT at CEFCU Arena against the Braves.

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