Washington’s career-high leads ISU to a win over Indiana State

Image courtesy of Redbird Women’s Basketball

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State women’s basketball finished off a two-game away campaign with a win against Indiana State on Sunday afternoon at the Hulman Center. Doneelah Washington led the match with 30 points, marking her third time this season the sophomore has secured a career-high.

ISU was coming off a tough 76-64 loss to UIC where Washington led the Redbirds with 17 points, her ninth game in-a-row in double-digits. Addison Martin and Trista Fayta had 10 points each, but the Redbirds shot 51% from the field and were unable to get the job done.

Washington has been a star for the Redbirds this season, averaging 16.7 points per game, putting her seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Indiana State came into the match with a record of 6-12 and were coming off a loss to Southern Illinois. Clemisha Prackett had 16 points for the Sycamores, her second highest-scoring game all season. Despite Prackett’s strong performance, Indiana State shot 37.9% from the field and were two for 17 from beyond the arc.

The Sycamores have a top-1o shooter of their own in Tierny Kelsey. She leads the Sycamores in points per game with an average of 14.5, tenth in the MVC. The guard would need to be on her best game to add another conference win for Indiana State, but her efforts were not enough.

The matchup remained evenly contested until Jaeden Pratt knocked down a 3-pointer and Madison Austin drove to the basket for a layup to give ISU an 18-11 lead three minutes into the first quarter. The Redbirds got their first double-digit lead after Austin was sent to the charity-stripe three times in-a-row after fouls by Kayla Smith, Prackett, and Kennedy Claybrooks.

Fayta got her first of five steals on the night with just over two minutes left in the first quarter and took it to the basket to earn her fourth of ten points on the night. Washington ended with seven points in the first 10 minutes after earning another layup with just over a minute on the clock and the Redbirds led 28-17 going into the second quarter.

Shots continued to hit for the Redbirds and the Sycamores could not find an answer. Grace Nelson made her name known for the night with a 23-foot shot from behind the arc to give ISU a 39-22 lead with just over four minutes left in the half. Seven more points from Washington in the final three minutes gave ISU a 47-31 lead going into the second half of the campaign.

Fayta and Washington were the star duo of the night and after a defensive rebound by Pratt, Fayta found Washington in the paint to give the Redbirds a 22-point lead early into the third quarter.

Free throws were the theme of the night, with 16 of ISU’s 22 points in the third quarter coming from the line and the Redbirds went 37 for 43 from the charity stripe on the night, a new school record. ISU could not make a shot in the last minute of the game, but went into the final 10 minutes leading 69-45.

The Sycamores outscored the Redbirds in the fourth quarter, but were unable to gain enough momentum for the comeback. ISU led up defensively, but had five defensive rebounds in the fourth to take away second-chance opportunities for Indiana State. Fouls by the Sycamores continued to put the Redbirds at the free-throw line and they would take full advantage. Martin had eight of her 12 points on the night in the final eight and a half minutes to help secure a victory for ISU.

ISU scored 26 points off turnovers, one of their best second-chance games of the season. The 30-point career high marks Washington’s fifth game this season with 20 or more points in a game. Martin’s double-digit finish is her 17th game this season with 10 or more points, missing just one on the year.

It was a homecoming for Kya Hurt and the freshman ended with nine points, two points, and two assists in her home state.

ISU is back in action at 6 p.m. on Thursday at CEFCU Arena to take on UNI. If you cannot attend the game, tune into the broadcast at 5:50 p.m. with Riley Ward and Nick Thompson.

For all things Redbird women’s basketball, stay tuned at wznd.com.