NORMAL, Ill. – After opening the 2026-27 season at home with win over Chicago State on Monday night, Illinois State will hit the road for the first time this season on Thursday night when the Redbirds head to Ohio to take on the Dayton Flyers. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT at the UD Arena, and the game can be watched live on ESPN+.
TRIPLE DIGITS IN THE SEASON OPENER
For the third-consecutive time against Chicago State inside the friendly confines of CEFCU Arena, the Redbirds scored 100+ points in a win over the Cougars. After leading by just eight points at the end of the first quarter, the Redbirds pulled away for a 106-69 victory over their in-state opponents. The 106 points scored are the most ever for ISU against Chicago State in seven contests and ISU scored nearly half of its points (50) in the paint and had 16 second-chance points. ISU also got got 51 points off the bench in the contest, led by the 21 from Grace Nelson, as five players finished the game in double figures.
AGAINST THE FLYERS
Illinois State and Dayton will meet for the seventh in program history, with the series tied at 3-3. The Redbirds have won the past two contests against the Flyers, including an 87-76 win over Dayton last year on November 3 at CEFCU Arena. ISU also won the most recent matchup in Dayton, a 74-70 overtime win in November 2022. Overall, ISU is 1-2 in games played on the road against Dayton but are looking for their third-straight against Flyers overall.
SCOUTING DAYTON
Dayton was picked fifth in the A10 preseason poll, just ahead of Saint Louis in sixth. The Flyers finished 17-14 overall and 9-9 in league play last season and UD returns a veteran group, including three starters and six players that averaged over 18.0 minutes of action per game. Senior Ajok Madol started 30 games last season and averaged 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while junior Olivia Leung is the top returning scorer at 8.7 points per game and had a team-high 41 made threes. Post players Fatima Ibrahim and Molly O'Riordan both started 14 or more games last year and combined for 12.0 rebounds per game and 88 total blocks. The 2026-27 roster also includes five new members to the program this season with two transfers and three freshmen.
TWO FOR THE SHOW
For the second-straight season, the Redbirds had a pair of 20-plus point scorers in the season opener, with Nevaeh Thomas (23) and Grace Nelson (21) both finishing with 20 or more against Chicago State. Last year, Doneelah Washington and Addison Martin each had 20 or more in the season opener vs. Dayton. The 23 points by Thomas are the most for an ISU player in an opener since Shannon Dowell also scored 23 in the 2024-25 season opener against Northwestern. Nelson finished just two points shy of her career high with the 21 points on a career-best 8-for-10 shooting from the field and she tied a career-high with five made three-pointers in just 18 minutes of action.
STRONG DEBUTS FOR THE FRESHMEN
Illinois State got a couple of strong performances from highly touted freshman in the season opening with over Chicago State, as Danyella Mporokoso and Kennedy Stowers each scored in double figures in their collegiate debuts. Mporokoso had 16 points in her collegiate debut to go along with five assists. She is the first ISU freshman to have 15+ points and 5+ assists in her debut since the 2009-10 season and is one of only two MVC freshmen to have that stat line in an opener since 09-10. Stowers tallied a double-double in her debut with 13 points and 10 boards against the Cougars. She is the only Redbird freshman to have a double-double in the opener since the 2009-10 season and currently is one of just three freshman since that time to post a double double in their collegiate debut (Abby Feit of Evansville and Tiara Wallace of Loyola the others).
ABOUT LAST YEARÂ
The Redbirds return seven players from last season's squad that advanced to the WNIT Championship game. Illinois State earned a postseason bid for the sixth consecutive season and posted a 20-win campaign for the fourth straight year. The Redbirds were 24-14 overall last season, including a 13-7 mark in MVC play and a 17-1 record at home at CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds' 17 home victories are the most home wins by Illinois State in the Kristen Gillespie era and tied the 2010-11 team that also went 17-1 at home.
BIRDS PICKED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
The Redbirds were picked second in the annual Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball preseason poll, which is voted on by Valley head coaches, communications directors and a media panel. Murray State, which is coming off back-to-back regular-season and tournament titles, was picked as the preseason favorite after receiving 41 of 44 possible first-place votes and 477 total points. The Redbirds were picked to finish second in the poll with 396 points, while Belmont picked up a pair of first-place votes and 375 total points to place third. Northern Iowa collected the final first-place vote and 343 points and fourth place, while Drake (317) and UIC (267) rounded out the league's preseason favorites.
FOUR REDBIRDS NAMED PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Redbirds had four players named to the Missouri Valley Conference "Players to Watch" list for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Returners Trista Fayta and Nevaeh Thomas were joined on the list by newcomers Chloe Spreen and Danyella Mporokoso. Last season, Fayta broke the ISU single-season assist record (218) and ranked No. 8 in Division I in assists and No. 16 in assists per game (5.7). She led the MVC in both of those categories and was third in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 1.7. Thomas returns after missing all but four games last season due to an injury, following a sophomore campaign in 2024-25 where she averaged 12.1 points, a team-high 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Spreen joins Illinois State after spending the previous two seasons at Indiana and Alabama, while the highly touted Mporokoso begins her collegiate career after being named the 2025-26 Gatorade Illinois Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
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