NORMAL, Ill. – Down 10 points with six and a half minutes to play, Illinois State needed a spark against Abilene Christian in the WNIT Super 16. ISU got it in the form of sophomore Doneelah Washington, who scored 15 points in the final quarter of play including the final 13 for the Redbirds (22-13), in a 59-55 come from behind win over the Wildcats (24-11) on Friday night in front of a spirited crowd at CEFCU Arena.
With the win, the Redbirds advance to the WNIT Great 8 where they will host George Washington University on Monday night.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
•   Abilene Christian jumped out to a 15-2 lead to start the contest, but the Redbirds went on a 7-0 run over a minute stretch with just over two minutes remaining to cut the ACU lead to 15-9 thanks to layups by Addison Martin, Trista Fayta and Washington.
•   Fayta would later drive to the hoop and convert on an up-and-under move to cut the Wildcats' lead to 17-11 with under a minute to go and a jumper at the buzzer by Kya Hurt would make it 17-13 in favor of ACU after the first 10 minutes of action.
•   ACU started the second quarter on a 5-0 run, before Fayta connected on her first triple of the game to make the score 22-16 two minutes in. Illinois State would continue to chip away at the Abilene Christian lead, as a three-pointer by Jaeden Pratt would make the score 22-20 with 4:38 left before the break.
•   The Redbirds would tie the game for the first time with 3:56 left in the quarter, as Fayta made a layup to knot things up at 22-22. After the two teams traded baskets, ISU would take its first lead of the contest at 26-24 on a layup by Martin with 2:16 remaining in the second quarter to cap off a 13-2 run for the Redbirds. ACU would score the final four points of the half to take a 28-26 lead at halftime.
•   Abilene Christian would go up by five points early in the third quarter, but five-straight points on a layup by Washington and a three-pointer by Bella Finnegan would tie the score a 33-33 with 5:43 left in the quarter. ACU would come back with a quick 5-0 run of its own to go back up 38-33, but a layup by Washington would cut the ACU lead back to three at 38-35 at the media timeout.
•   ACU would take an eight-point lead with under two minutes left in the quarter, but four-straight points from Hurt would trim the Wildcats' lead to 43-39 with a minute left in the quarter. A late bucket would give ACU a six-point advantage at 45-39 headed to the final quarter of action.
•   At the start of the fourth quarter, ACU would go up by 10 once again at 51-41 before ISU would get five-straight points on a pair of free throws by Washington and a three-pointer from the top of the key by Hurt to make it 51-46 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
•   A steal by Fayta and a three-point play by Washington would then cut the ACU lead to a basket at 55-53 with 2:28 left in the contest. A layup on the next possession by Washington would then knot the game at 55 all with 1:35 left, before Washington scored her seventh-straight point on a layup to give the Redbirds the lead at 57-55 with 49 seconds left.
•   ACU would have a couple shots at tying the game, including a layup attempt that rolled off the rim with six seconds left on the clock, but Washington would ice the game with a pair of free throws to give the Redbirds the four-point victory.
HIGHLIGHTSÂ
•   With the win, Illinois State improves to 22-13 on the season and 16-1 at home … the 16 home wins are one shy of the school record of 17 during the 2010-11 campaign.
•   Illinois State is now 5-1 in the WNIT over the past two seasons and has advanced to the WNIT Great 8 for the second-straight year.
•   For the second-straight season, Illinois State ended Abilene Christian's season in the WNIT Super 16 with the four-point win as ISU led for just 1:16 seconds total in the game.
•   ISU finished the contest with a 13-2 run over the final four minutes of the contest, while ACU did not score over the final three minutes of the game making just one of its last seven field goal attempts while committing four turnovers in the last five minutes of play.
•   Fayta's seven assists in the contest give her 204 on the season, which breaks the previous ISU single-season record of 203 set by ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Famer Kristi Cirone during the 2008-09 season.
•   Washington finished with 23 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter, and she scored the last 13 straight points for the Redbirds to end the contest and secure the comeback win over the Wildcats … she shot 8-of-10 from the field, was 7-for-7 from the charity stripe and grabbed nine rebounds in the contest.
•   Fayta scored 10 of her 13 points in the first half to keep the Redbirds in the game, and she added seven assists, three rebounds and three steals to spark the ISU win.
•   Hurt came up huge off the bench for the Redbirds scoring nine points, including the big three-pointer in the fourth quarter, while pulling down four rebounds and picking up two steals in the contest.
•   Martin never came out of the game for the Redbirds against her old squad, playing all 40 minutes while scoring six points and grabbing six boards against the Wildcats.
UP NEXTÂ
Illinois State will host George Washington (18-17) in the WNIT Great 8 on Monday, March 30, with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Doug Collins Court at CEFCU Arena. The Revolutionaries earned their spot in the WNIT Great 8 with a 71-62 home win over Loyola Chicago on Friday night.
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