Washington Shines As Redbirds Drop Double-Overtime Heartbreaker at Murray State, 101-93

MURRAY, Ky. – Midway through the fourth quarter, Illinois State trailed by as many as 12 points at Murray State on Friday night, but the Redbirds rallied to send the game into overtime against Racers at Racer Arena. One extra period was not enough, as the Birds (7-7, 1-2 MVC) extended the game into a second overtime, but the Racers (11-2, 2-0 MVC) pulled away for the home victory in the final five minutes of the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
•    Murray State scored the first points of the game, but the Redbirds jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead after a three-pointer by Jaeden Pratt and a bucket by Trista Fayta just two minutes in. The Racers would score the next four points to take the lead back at 6-5, but the Redbirds answered with five-straight points on a pair of free throws by Doneelah Washington and a trey by Grace Nelson to go up 10-6
•    The back-and-forth continued, as the Racers drained consecutive shots from behind the arch to make it 12-10, before ISU went on a 7-0 run with a three-pointer by Kya Hurt sandwiched between a pair of buckets by Washington with 1:30 to play in the first quarter.
•    Fayta connected on a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left in the first to extend the ISU lead to 19-14, but a late layup with 23 seconds left by Murray State trimmed the deficit to 19-16 at the end of the first quarter.
•    The Racers would tie the game at 23 all with 7:26 to play in the second quarter, but once again the Redbirds responded as Nelson drilled a three-pointer to give the Birds the lead back at 26-23. The three-point barrage would continue for the Redbirds, as Hurt hit her second of the game to put ISU up 29-25 at the media timeout.
•    After Murray State got the lead back at 30-29, Washington hit a free throw to knot the game at 30-30 with under three to play before halftime. A three-pointer by the Racers would give them the lead back at 33-30, before Washington made a bucket to trim the deficit to one with 1:39 to play in the second. Both teams had a shot before the half, but the score stayed at 33-32 in favor of Murray State at the break.
•    Five-straight points by the Racers to start the third quarter ballooned the lead to six points at 38-32 and a three-pointer by Secrist would extend the lead back to six at 43-37 with 7:30 left in the third quarter. A pair of free throws by Fayta would trim the deficit to four points at 45-41, as the media timeout was called on the floor.
•    The lead would go to seven for the Racers at 49-42 after back-to-back baskets, before Washington drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to four with 3:29 left in the third.
•    Bella Finnegan would drill a three-pointer on the fastbreak to trim the Racers' lead to 52-50 and the hit a jumper to tie the game at 52-52 off a ball screen with 49 seconds left. Murray State would take the lead on a jumper with 31 seconds left in the quarter, but Finnegan scored her seventh-straight point to knot the game at 54-54 headed to the final quarter of play.
•    Murray State opened the fourth quarter on a 9-1 run, after a layup by Currie-Jelks made the score 63-55 with 7:39 to play and forced ISU head coach Kristen Gillespie to call a timeout.
•    A three-pointer by the Racers with just over five to play widened the advantage to 12 points at 73-61, but four-straight points from Nelson would cut the lead back to 73-65 a minute later. After the Racers went back up by 10 at 75-65, Washington drilled her second three-pointer of the contest to bring the score back to 75-68 with 3:11 left. A pair of free throws brought the Redbirds with in five points at 75-70, before Pratt drained a three-pointer with 1:07 left to bring the score within two at 75-73.
•    ISU would extend the run to 9-0 to cut the lead to one at 75-74 with 27 seconds left, before the Racers hit a pair of free throws to move the lead back to three points at 77-74 with 25 seconds left.
•    The Redbirds then tied the game at 77-77, as Nelson connected on her fourth three-pointer of the contest with 13 seconds left as the game moved into overtime.
•    A layup by Fayta got the Redbirds off to a good start in the first overtime period, but Murray State would answer with five-straight points to take a three-point lead at 82-79 with 2:23 left. The two squads traded baskets the rest of the way, as a layup by Washington with 15 seconds remaining tied the game at 86 all to send it to a second overtime period.
•    The Racers scored the first four points of the second overtime period and would extend their lead to as many as five points at 94-89 with 1:26 left to go. The lead would grow to nine for Murray State at 98-89, before Fayta made a layup with 37 seconds to play in the game. Fayta would score once again on a layup with 26 seconds to cut the deficit to six at 99-93, but the Racers would hit free throws down the stretch to secure the victory. 

HIGHLIGHTS 
•    The Redbirds shot 42 percent from three in the first half, going 5-for-12 from long distance. Hurt and Nelson each had two in the first 20 minutes of play, and Pratt added one.
•    Washington led all scorers in the first half with 11 points, and Addison Martin pulled down five rebounds and dished out six assists in the first two quarters of play. 
•    Washington would finish the game with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and added six rebounds and four steals for the Redbirds.
•    Martin continued her streak of scoring in double figures in every game so far this season with 13 points and recorded her third double-double of the year by also dishing out 10 assists.
•    Nelson finished with a career-high 13 points, thanks to a career-best four shots made from three-point range in the contest. 
•    Fayta added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists against the Racers to round out a quartet of Redbirds in double figures.
•    Bella Finnegan scored seven-straight points over the final 1:23 of the third quarter to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter. 

UP NEXT 
Illinois State will continue its first MVC road trip of the season on Sunday with contest against Belmont, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Curb Events Center.

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