Redbirds End Regular Season With Three-Game Road Trip
Written by WZND Newsroom on February 24, 2022
This image is courtesy of goredbirds.com.
NORMAL, Ill – The Illinois State women’s basketball team looks to bounce back after a tough outing last weekend. The Redbirds dropped from first place in the Missouri Valley Conference down to third place after dropping games to Missouri State and Southern Illinois.
The Redbirds struggled last weekend, getting off to slow starts in each of their games last weekend. In the first quarters combined, the Redbirds were outscored 39-16 over their two games.
A bright spot for the Redbirds was Juliunn Redmond who led all scorers with 21 points on Sunday against Southern Illinois. For Redmond this was her ninth 20+ point performance of the season and led the Redbirds in scoring for the fifth straight game.
Closing out the season, the Redbirds will face Drake, Northern Iowa and their I-74 rival, the Bradley Braves. The Redbirds are on the road the rest of the way out with three more games before the conference tournament begins March 10-13.
Their first opponent of the weekend is the Drake Bulldogs, who currently sit in seventh place in the conference, with a 5-9 record. The Bulldogs are led by Maggie Bair, Grace Berg and Megan Meyer who all average double-digit points. Bair leads the team in points and rebounds per game, averaging 12 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
The Bulldogs are coming off a momentum boosting win over Northern Iowa last weekend as they defeated the Panthers 73-68.
The Redbirds have won the last three matchups against Drake and won the match-up earlier in the season. Tip-off is set for 6 pm Friday.
Northern Iowa comes into the weekend on a three-game losing streak, falling to Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Drake last week.
The Panthers are led by Karli Rucker who leads the team in points and assists per game, averaging 13.2 points and 3.2 assists per game. Junior guard Kam Finley is right behind Rucker, averaging 12.1 points per game, while freshman forward Grace Boffeli is third in the conference in rebounding, bringing in 8.9 boards per game.
The Redbirds lost their earlier meeting with the Panthers, falling at home 75-67 but look to rebound on Sunday at 2 pm.
