Redbirds and Bulldogs Set To Square Off In MVC Tournament Quarterfinals

SETTING THE SCENE
Illinois State will look to win its first conference tournament title since 2022, when the No. 3 seed Redbirds (19-12, 13-7 MVC) take on the No. 6 seeded Drake Bulldogs (12-19, 10-10 MVC) in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT at the Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

THE SERIES
Illinois State and Drake will meet for the 98th time in program history, when they square off on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Drake leads the all-time series 56-41, and have won five out of the last six games against the Redbirds and seven out of the last 10 games in the series overall. The two teams split the season series, with each team winning on its home floor, and ISU is 2-6 against Drake in the MVC Tournament.

THE FASTBREAK
• Illinois State enters Friday's contest against Drake as winners of five of its last seven games overall.  
• With their last-second win in the regular-season finale at Bradley, Illinois State earned the No. 3 seed in the 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament.
• Sophomore Doneelah Washington was selected to the All-MVC First Team and was named the MVC Most Improved Player of the Year, along with earning a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team.
• Freshman Kya Hurt was honored as a member of the MVC All-Freshman team, following a stellar inaugural season in a Redbird uniform.
• Sophomore guard Trista Fayta, along with Washington, earned MVC All-Academic honors. She finished the season as the MVC leader in assists (184) and assists per game (5.9)
• With her performance last week at Drake, Washington set a career-high with six blocks and also moved over the 500 points scored mark for the year, becoming just the 17th player in program history to achieve that feat.
• Fayta recorded her third double-double of the season at Bradley, as she scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the way for the Redbirds. 
• The Redbirds went 14-1 at home during the regular season for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
• Washington was named MVC Player of the Week, after she averaged 22.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest, against Belmont (Feb. 20) and Murray State (Feb. 22).
• For the first time since 2012 (Jamie Russell), a Redbird posted a 30-point, 10-plus rebound effort as Washington scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 12 boards to help lift the Birds to the win over the Bruins.
• Washington (31) and Addison Martin (24) each ecliped the 20-point mark against Belmont, marking the fifth time this season ISU has had a pair of players score 20 or more in the same game. 
• Fayta recorded the first triple-double for the Redbirds since 1991, when she scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists against Valparaiso.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
• The Bulldogs (12-19, 10-10 MVC) wrapped up the regular season with a 73-55 home win over Illinois State (Mar. 5) before dropping the finale in a rivalry romp at UNI (Mar. 8).
• Drake currently leads the league in assists per game with 18.1 dishes per contest. The Dogs are also third in the MVC with 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ava Hawthorne leads Drake with 103 total assists and 3.4 assists per game. The Bulldogs' assists numbers rank ninth in the country. 
• Drake also leads the MVC in rebounding margin. The Bulldogs pull down 39.6 boards per game while holding opponents to 34.1 rebounds per contest. Maggie Taylor paces Drake's rebounding effort with 6.8 per game.
• Senior sharpshooter Abbie Aalsma (former Redbird) leads the Bulldogs in scoring this season with an average of 15.1 points per game. She is one of two Drake players to average double digit points. Aalsma was voted as a Third Team All-MVC performer this season.
• Anna Becker is the other Drake player to average double figures with 11.5 points per game to her credit. Becker recently earned her fifth MVC Freshman of the Week honor and was named to the MVC All-Freshman team after a stellar rookie campaign.
• The Bulldogs are 54-27 all-time in MVC Tournament play. Drake won back-to-back tournament titles in 2023 and 2024 before bowing out in last year's semifinals. 
• Drake enters tournament play as the No. 6 seed for the third time in program history. The Bulldogs are 1-2 all-time as the sixth seed.

REDBIRD MVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY 
• The Redbirds head to Coralville as a five-time winner of the MVC Women's Basketball • Tournament (1983, 1989, 2005, 2008, 2022). This year marks just the fifth time in program history the Redbirds are seeded No. 3. It is the second time this decade, as ISU was also the No. 3 seed in 2020-21. The Redbirds are 4-2 all-time as a No. 3 seed, with a pair of wins during the 2012-13 tournament.
• Illinois State last earned the MVC Tournament title as a four seed in 2022, taking down No. 5 Loyola, No. 1 Southern Illinois and No. 3 UNI en route to that title. 

CLIMBING IN THE RECORD BOOK
• A pair of Redbirds are climbing in key categories in the Illinois State record book this season with their performance.
• Trista Fayta has dished out 184 assists this year, which puts her at No. 7 on the single-season list and just two away from fifth place (Cathy Beesley - 187). 
• With 271 rebounds on the season Doneelah Washington sits at No. 9 on the single-season list, just one shy of tying current UIC head coach Ashleen Bracey for 8th.
• With 52 blocks on the year, Washington sits at No. 10 on the single season list, after just passing Kate Bullman who had 50 in 2022-23. She also upped her career total to 86, which puts her in eighth place all time.
• Washington has also scored 512 points on the season, making her just the 17th player in program history to score 500 points or more in a year.

FAYTA FINDS THEM ALL
• Trista Fayta leads the MVC in assists and assists per game and she has padded those numbers recently. 
• She dished out 12 dimes in a road win at Valparaiso, which tied her career-high of 12 against Evansville.
• Fayta now has five double-digit assist efforts this season, which ranks 9th in Division I and leads all MVC players.
• She is the only Redbird since 2009-10 to have multiple games of 10+ assists in a single season.
• She currently leads the MVC and is 13th in the NCAA with 5.9 assists per game. Her 184 total assists put her at No. 12 in the country.

PROTECTING HOME COURT
• Illinois State is 14-1 at home this season, which is one of the better single-season performances at home in program history. 
• The Redbirds 14 home victories are tied for the most home wins by Illinois State in the Kristen Gillespie era. The team has won 14 home games in each of the past two seasons.
• This season marks the 9th time in program history that Illinois State has won 13 or more home games in a single season. 
• This year's squad is just the third team in program history to win 13-plus home games in the regular season, joining the 2010-11 team that holds the school record with 17 home wins and the 2023-24 squad.
• The Redbirds have protected home court well over the last four years, posting a 53-10 record since the start of the 2022-23 season. Overall, the Redbirds are 101-30 at home under the leadership of head coach Kristen Gillespie.

PROBLEMS IN THE POST
• Doneelah Washington and Addison Martin are one of the best post combinations in the MVC, and they showed that with their peformances in an overtime win over Belmont.
• Washington scored a career high 31-points, thanks to a 9-for-9 effort from the free throw line, and grabbed 12 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season.
• Not to be outdone, Martin scored a season-best 24 points (1 point shy of her career high) and was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. 
It was Martin's fourth 20-plus point effort of the season.
• ISU has now had two players score 20 points or more in the same game five times this season with Washington doing it four times.

NELSON GOES NUTS
• Redshirt freshman Grace Nelson came off the bench at Evansville and sparked a Redbird second-half comeback with a career-best tying five three-pointers.
• She would go on to finish the game with a career-high 23 points to lead the way for the Redbirds and was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. She also dished out a career-high four assists in the win for the Redbirds.

VALLEY WIN STREAKS
• The Redbirds are riding a 10-game win streak over Valparaiso, the third-longest active win streak over a current Missouri Valley Conference member. 
• Illinois State has not suffered a loss to Valpo since the 2020-21 campaign.

GILLESPIE CLIMBS THE RANKS
• With her 77-70 win over Drake on Feb. 7, ISU head coach Kristen Gillespie picked up win No. 171 at Illinois State, which moved her into the Top 10 all-time among league coaches.
• She joins former ISU head coach Jill Hutchison (277) on the list and ISU is the only school with two coaches in the Top 10 all-time in wins.
• With ISU's 75-61 win over UIC on Jan. 8, Gillespie notched her 100th career Missouri Valley Conference victory.
• Ahead of ISU's matchup with Evansville, Gillespie received a commemorative ball in recognition of becoming the 10th coach in MVC history to reach triple-digit wins.

ANOTHER TRIPLE DOUBLE SOON?
• Trista Fayta nearly recorded her second triple-double of the season against Drake, as she scored a career-high 23 points, dished out nine assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
• It marked the first time this season that a Redbird has led the team in points, rebounds and assists in the same game. 
• Earlier in the season, Fayta became the first Redbird since the 1990-91 season to record a triple double with a 14-point, 10-rebound and 10-assist outing against Valparaiso. It was just the seventh in the last five seasons.

IT JUST MEANS MORE
• The Feb. 1 game against Bradley was ISU's 16th-annual Play4Kay game, where ISU raised over $36,000 for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund during the game, and have now fundraised over $380,000 for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and the fight against all women's cancers in their previous 16 years hosting a Play4Kay game.  
• The Illinois State women's basketball program was recognized as a Play4Kay National Award Winner for the fourth year in a row in 2025. For only the fourth time in Play4Kay's history, and for the fourth year in a row, Illinois State won the Division I BCS and Non-BCS national awards. 
• Illinois State head coach Kristen Gillespie played for and coached alongside the legendary Kay Yow at NC State.

CONVERTING FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
• The Redbirds were busy at the free throw line in their win at Indiana State. ISU was 37-of-43 from the charity stripe in the victory, with six players attempting at least five shots each.
• The 37 free throws made by the Redbirds set a new school record, topping the previous mark of 32 made against Missouri in 1996. 
• ISU attempted 43 free throws, which was one shy of the school record of 44 set against UNI in 2004 and overall shot 86 percent from the stripe on the day.

WASHINGTON WOWS
• Doneelah Washington has been on a tear in 2026, leading the Redbirds in scoring with nine games of 20 points or more, including a career-high 31 points in a win against Belmont.
• With a 31-point, 12-rebound performance in the overtime win over Belmont, Washington notched her ninth double-double of the season.
• With 26 points and 10 boards against Evansville, she recorded her second 20-point, 10-rebound game as a Redbird. 
• She is the fifth Redbird in the Gillespie era to record multiple 20-point, 10-rebound games in their career, joining Nevaeh Thomas, DeAnna Wilson, JuJu Redmond and Simone Goods.

MVC HONORS
• Doneelah Washington continues to dominate on the floor for the Redbirds and for her efforts, she was named the MVC Player of the Week for the third time this season on Jan. 26.
• She continues to do it all for the Redbirds and put together another strong week where she nearly averaged a double-double on the road against UIC and Indiana State. 
• Washington averaged 22.5 points per contest and 8.5 rebounds per game while playing nearly 30 minutes per contest against the Flames and the Sycamores, with 28 points against the Trees.

DONEELAH DOES IT ALL
• Doneelah Washington put together a strong all-around effort with 26 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two blocks against Evansville.
• She is one of only five MVC players since 2009-10 with 25+ points, 10+ rebounds, 4+ steals and 2+ blocks in a game against an MVC opponent. Washington is also the only ISU player since 2009-10 with that same stat line.

BALANCED EFFORT
• The Redbirds finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 25 games last season and have done so in 11 games so far in the 2025-26 season.
• Illinois State is 41-11 when putting 4+ in double figures since the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
• Over the last three seasons, Illinois State has finished with 4+ double-figure scorers in 52 games, and 5+ double-figure scorers in 16 including the road game at Valparaiso.

MONEY MARTIN
• Redshirt senior Addison Martin scored in double figures in 14 straight games to start the season and has done so in 24 of the Birds' 30 contests during the 2025-26 campaign.
• Martin has recorded three double-doubles this season, with her most recent coming against Murray State (13 points, 10 rebounds).

DISHING DIMES
• In her first career start, Trista Fayta tallied the first double-double of her career with 19 points and 10 assists against Dayton.
• Her complete performance turned out to be a unique one, as Fayta become just the second MVC player in the last 14 seasons to put up 19 points, 10 assists and 4 or more steals in a game.
• Fayta and Addison Martin have both tallied double-digit assists efforts this season, with Fayta now having five.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
• The Redbirds scored a season-high 105 points against Indiana State on Dec. 29, marking the fifth time under head coach Kristen Gillespie that Illinois State has eclipsed the century mark.
• The Redbirds' 105 points are tied for the fifth-most in a single game in program history.
• It marked the first 100-point output for the Redbirds since scoring 110 against St. Francis last December.

20+ WIN SEASON
• Illinois State secured a 20-win campaign for the third consecutive season under head coach Kristen Gillespie in 2024-25, marking the first time since 2008-09 to 2010-11 that the program has earned three consecutive seasons with 20+ wins. 
• Illinois State's 24 wins last season tie the 2022-23 squad for the most in a single season under head coach Kristen Gillespie. 
• The Redbirds (18-12) are just wins away from making it four season in a row with 20 or more victories.