NORMAL, Ill. – Off to a 2-0 start to the season for the first time since the 2022-23 season, the Illinois State women's basketball team returns to CEFCU Arena for its second home game of the week and third overall in the opening week of the season to host in-state foe Augustana at 4 p.m. CT.
FAYTA COMES UP BIG
When the Redbirds needed her the most, Trista Fayta came up big for ISU in the overtime win at Dayton. Fayta led a quartet of Redbirds in double figures with a career-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field to go along with eight assist and eight rebounds. She is the only player in the country this season to have 28+ points, 8+ rebounds and 8+ assists in a single game and since 2009-10, there have been only three MVC players to post that stat line.
BACK-TO-BACK FOR THOMAS
For the second-straight game, Nevaeh Thomas posted a 20-plus point scoring effort for ISU. Thomas finished with 20 points and just missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds in the win over Dayton. She is the first Redbird to scored 20-plus points in the first two games of the season since Jamie Russell started the 2012-13 season with a pair of 20-plus point performances.
DOUBLE THE EFFORT FROM CHICKEN
Transfer Hannah Chicken came up big for the Redbirds in the overtime win over Dayton, posting her first double-double of the year and the second of the year for the Redbirds. Chicken finished the contest with 19 points and 13 rebounds. So far, Chicken is the only MVC Newcomer to record a double-double this season and her 19 points are the most by any MVC newcomer this year.
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.
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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