NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State women's basketball erased an 11-point deficit in the third quarter to take down the Southern Illinois Salukis, 78-60, in the final home game of the season on Thursday night at CEFCU Arena.
With the victory, the Redbirds (17-11, 11-6) improved to 14-1 at CEFCU Arena, tied for the second-most single season home wins in program history. It is the sixth time in program history and the third-straight year that the Redbirds have won at least 14 home games in a single season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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The Salukis broke the scoring open with a short jumper in the paint. The next possession, Trista Fayta put the Redbirds on the board with a layup assisted by Kya Hurt. A strong drive to the hoop by Fayta gave the Redbirds their first lead of the game.
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A defensive stop and layup from Doneelah Washington put the Redbirds ahead, 8-4, with 7:35 left in the quarter. With the shot clock winding down, Hurt made the game's first triple and her 20th of the season to increase the Redbird advantage to five. ISU led, 11-6, at the first media timeout with 4:57 remaining in the period.
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Out of the timeout, the Salukis made a layup to cut their deficit to three. Fayta ended the Redbirds' two-minute-plus scoring drought with a floater. Addison Martin and Grace Nelson then etched their names into the scoresheet with layups.
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Fayta continued her hot first quarter with a layup plus the foul, handing the Redbirds a nine-point edge and forcing SIU to call a 30-second timeout with 2:46 remaining. The Redbirds finished the quarter making five of their last seven field goal attempts and led, 21-14, following the first 10 minutes of play.
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The Salukis scored the first six points of the second quarter to cut their deficit to one and force the Redbirds to use their first timeout with 7:37 remaining in the half. Out of the timeout, SIU took a 22-21 advantage, but Washington ended the Birds' dry spell with a layup to regain the lead, 23-22. The Salukis responded, draining their first triple of the night to highlight a 12-0 run over 2:06 that put them ahead, 36-25, with 2:26 left.
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Hurt ended the Redbirds' three-minute-plus scoring drought with a jumper. Fayta then made a buzzer-beating jumper to end the half and send ISU into the locker room trailing, 38-31.
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The first four points of the second half came from the Salukis, increasing their lead to 11. Jaeden Pratt scored the first six points of the half for the home team, including four free throws and the Redbirds' first field goal with 7:06 remaining in the third. On an assist from Nelson, Fayta made a layup to bring ISU within five. An offensive rebound and putback from Washington inched the Birds within three heading into the media timeout with 4:56 left.
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Out of the timeout, Martin converted two free throws to make it a one-point game, and then Fayta took the lead for the Redbirds with two more buckets from the charity stripe. After another defensive stop, Nelson drove her way to the hoop to cap off an 11-0 run and put the Redbirds ahead, 47-44.Â
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Two free throws from the Salukis made it a one-point game, but Martin muscled her way to the hoop and made the and-one layup to put the Birds ahead by four. On the next possession, Nelson stole the ball and was fouled on her way to the hoop. She made both free throws to grow the ISU lead to six. Two more made shots from the free throw line, this time from Washington, made it, 54-46, with 1:18 remaining. SIU ended its scoring drought with 54 seconds left, and Washington earned the final bucket of the quarter 10 seconds later to give the Birds an eight-point lead heading into the final quarter at CEFCU Arena this season.
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Both squads traded two-point shots to begin the fourth period. Hurt made a driving layup and splashed a triple from the right wing off of a turnover to keep the Birds in control. Madison Austin followed with a layup to make it a 13-point game, forcing SIU to use a timeout with 8:18 remaining. The Redbirds went on a 9-0 run out of the timeout, highlighted by buckets from Washington, Martin, Pratt and Hurt and a triple from Nelson to surge their lead to 20. Despite a near three-minute scoring drought to end the game, the Redbirds prevailed, 78-60, to earn their 14th home win of the season.
HIGHLIGHTS
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ISU shot 64.3% from the field in the first quarter, led by a 4-for-5 effort from Fayta.
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Fayta led the Redbirds with 10 points and two assists at the break.
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Washington led the team with 17 points and 10 boards, marking her third-straight double-double and 11th of the season.
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The Redbirds went on a 16-2 run over 5:37 and held the Salukis without a field goal for over five minutes in the third quarter to regain the lead and stay on top the rest of the contest.
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Four Redbirds scored in double figures: Washington (17), Fayta (16), Hurt (14) and Martin (11). ISU is 41-11 when putting four-plus in double figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
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In her final home game as a Redbird, Martin scored in double figures for the fourth-straight game and the 22nd time this season.
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The Redbirds recorded a season-high 14 steals, highlighted by a career-high five steals from Hurt.
UP NEXT
Illinois State closes its February slate with a road contest against Valparaiso at the Athletics-Recreation Center at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday.
