Washington, Nelson Post Career-Bests as Redbirds Fall Short Against Bruins

NASHVILLE – Tied with four minutes remaining in Sunday's game, Illinois State women's basketball against Belmont proved to be another classic conference showdown. The Redbirds fought until the final whistle but ultimately fell short to the Bruins (8-7, 4-0), 75-68, at Curb Event Center on Sunday afternoon. Doneelah Washington, who scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 16 boards, and Grace Nelson, who collected a career-best 23 points with five triples, led the Redbirds (7-8, 1-3) in the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Belmont scored the first points of the contest with a layup. Illinois State's Washington answered with a layup of her own, and then Belmont's Hilary Fuller banged a three-pointer to put the Bruins ahead, 5-2.

• Washington made another layup, and Trista Fayta was fouled on her way to the hoop and converted on two free throws to give the Redbirds a one-point advantage with 6:50 left.

• The two squads traded points for a few minutes. During that run, Washington hit her first triple of the game to put the Redbirds ahead, 11-9.

• The Redbirds led, 17-16 with 46 seconds left, but Fuler hit her second triple of the game to bring her point total to 13 and give the Bruins a one-point lead after the first 10 minutes.

• Belmont scored a layup to start the second quarter to jump ahead by four points. The Redbirds responded with five straight points, highlighted by a three-pointer from Bella Finnegan and a driving layup by Fayta, to take a 22-21 lead with 7:22 remaining. 

• The Bruins knotted the score with a free throw, but the tie didn't last long, as Madison Austin converted a triple just 21 seconds later to put the Redbirds ahead by three.

• The Redbirds remained hot from beyond the arc, as Nelson and Austin hit back-to-back treys to surge Illinois State's lead to seven with 4:42 left in the half.

• The Bruins scored four straight to cut the Redbird lead to three before Washington snagged an offensive rebound and converted on a second-chance layup to keep ISU ahead, 33-28.

• After the Bruins converted on a turnaround jumper, the Redbirds ended the half with five straight points, highlighted by two free throws from Washington and a trey by Jaeden Pratt. ISU led, 38-30, at the break, marking its biggest lead up to that point.

• Belmont scored eight straight points out of the locker room to knot the game at 38 a piece and force ISU to call a timeout.

• Out of the timeout, Belmont took a two-point lead, but the Redbirds never wavered. Nelson kept the three-point party alive with her second of the day, and Washington followed with a layup to give a three-point lead back to the Birds. The Bruins then made a layup to cut their deficit to one at the third quarter media timeout with 5:10 left.

• The two squads went back-and-forth, trading the lead multiple times over the next three minutes of the period before two turnovers by the Birds gave the home team a six-point lead with 48 seconds remaining.

• Washington converted her seventh field goal of the game to bring the score to 53-49 in favor of the Bruins at the end of the third quarter.

• Belmont jumped out to an eight-point lead to start the fourth. ISU kept fighting, as a driving layup and triple by Nelson brought the Birds back within three.

• The Bruins took the lead by six again, but Nelson didn't back down, hitting her fourth three-pointer of the game to force Belmont to call a timeout with 6:31 left.

• Nelson took the game into her own hands, splashing a step-back trey to make it a one-point game with 5:26 remaining. Washington then knotted the game at 65 all with four minutes left in the contest.

• The Bruins regained the lead, 68-65, with 2:21 left, their first points in over two minutes of game time. A jumper put Belmont up by five with 1:18 left and forced ISU to call a timeout.

• Despite missing a few key free throws, the Birds fought until the end but ultimately fell short, 78-65, as the Bruins made their final three field goals.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Five different Redbirds scored in the first period, including Washington, who had a team-high nine points in the first 10 minutes. The Redbirds went 3-for-3 on field goals to end the first quarter of action.

• ISU hit five shots from downtown in the second quarter on a 62.5% clip, while holding the Bruins to 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Austin led the charge for ISU from three-point land, going 2-for-2.

• Washington nearly posted a double-double in the first half with 13 points and eight rebounds while shooting 50% from the field.

• Washington achieved her fifth double-double of the season by the end of the third period with 17 points and 11 boards. She finished the game with 23 points and a career-high 16 rebounds

• Nelson scored a career-high 20 points while making a career-best five three-point field goals, three of which came in the fourth quarter. 

• This is the second time this season that two Redbirds have scored 20 points or more in the same game (Washington and Martin, 11/3/25 vs. Dayton).

• ISU shot 46% from the field and 42% from deep while outrebounding the Bruins, 42-29.

UP NEXT

The Redbirds return home and continue conference play, hosting UIC on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. inside CEFCU Arena.