PEORIA, Ill. – A free throw from Jaeden Pratt with less than a second left on the clock gave Illinois State (19-12, 13-7 MVC) a 66-65 win over Bradley (20-11, 13-7 MVC) in the regular-season finale on Sunday at the Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria. The win gave the Redbirds, who were led by career-high 26 points from Trista Fayta, a season sweep over the Braves and helped ISU secure the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
•   Illinois State got out to a hot start, with Grace Nelson drilling a three-pointer on ISU's first possession. That kickstarted a 10-0 run to start the game for the Redbirds, which was capped off by a three-pointer from Fayta and caused Bradley to call a timeout with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter.
•   Bradley answered that run with a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 13-10 lead over the Redbirds with 2:04 to playing the opening quarter. A bucket by Doneelah Washington 30 seconds later would cut the Bradley lead to one at 13-12, before the Braves went up 15-12 with 10 seconds remaining.Â
•   Fayta then drilled a long jumper with just one second left, was fouled and then made her free throw to knot the game at 15-15 headed to the second quarter.
•   After Bradley got the first basket of the second quarter, ISU would take the lead at 18-17 after a jumper by Nelson three minutes in. The Braves would answer with a quick three-pointer to regain the advantage at 20-18, before Fayta tied it up once again on a driving layup.
•   Nelson continued her torrid start, drilling a pair of threes to put the Redbirds back up 26-24 inside of four minutes to play before halftime. Another three-pointer for the Redbirds, this one by Washington, would put ISU up by four at 31-27 with 2:32 left on the clock. Fayta was later fouled on a drive to the basket, and the shot fell, but the free throw did not as ISU maintained a 33-29 advantage and the lead would grow to six at 35-29 on a jumper by Addison Martin with 43 seconds left.
•   Bradley would trim the Illinois State lead to three at the break at 35-32, with the Redbirds shot 50 percent from the field and from three-point range in the second quarter to take the lead at halftime.
•   The Redbirds turned defense into offense on two-straight possessions, as a steal by Washington led to a layup for her on the other end and steal by Fayta turned into a fastbreak layup for Nelson as ISU went on a 10-0 run to take a 47-37 lead and force a Bradley timeout with 6:23 left in the third.
•   The Braves would answer with a 7-0 run to cut the Redbird lead to three at 47-44 with just over two to play in the third quarter, before Fayta drilled a three pointer to push the lead back to five at 50-45. Pratt finished the period with four-straight points for the Redbirds to push the lead to six at 54-48 but two free throws for Bradley would make it a four-point game at 54-50 headed to the final quarter of play.
•   Bradley would chip away at the Illinois State advantage and took the lead back at 57-56, before Fayta quickly got the lead back for the Birds with a driving layup to make it 58-57 with just under six to play. Once again, the Braves rallied with an 8-0 run to take the lead back at 65-58 and force a Redbird timeout.
•   A pair of free throws by Fayta and a three-pointer by Nelson with under a minute to go would trim the Braves' lead to 65-63 and the defense would force a stop and allow ISU to all time out with 27 seconds left on the clock. Fayta came up big once again for the Redbirds, as she drove to hoop and got the layup to fall to tie the game at 65 all with 17 seconds remaining.
•   The Redbirds got the ball back with two seconds left and Pratt was fouled on a last-second attempt as she went to the free throw line with .7 left. She missed the first but hit the second and the last-second heave by Bradley was intercepted by Washington to secure the win for the Redbirds.
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HIGHLIGHTSÂ
•   The victory gives the Redbirds a season sweep over the Braves for the first time since the 2023-24 campaign.
•   The contest featured 10 lead changes, and the game was tied nine different times.Â
•   Fayta finished the game with a career-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds to record her third double-double of the season and second in as many weeks. She was 9-for-12 from the field, including a 2-for-3 effort from three-point range, and was 6-for-8 from the charity stripe in the contest. She also added five assists, two steals and a block to her team-leading effort.
•   Nelson finished with 16 points, thanks to a 4-for-8 effort from three-point range and added four rebounds in the contest.
•   Washington rounded out a trio of Redbirds in double figures with 11 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists against the Braves.
•   With her game-winning free throw, Pratt finished with seven points and Martin added six for the Redbirds.
UP NEXTÂ
Illinois State has earned the No. 3 seed in the 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. The Redbirds will play the winner of the opening-round matchup between Drake and Valparaiso in the quarterfinals on Friday, with tipoff set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Friday, March 13.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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