Illinois St. ILS 16-13,12-6 MVC

Bradley BRAD 4-23,1-17 MVC

Illinois St. ILS

16-13,12-6 MVC

Final

Mar. 05, 2022

Bradley BRAD

4-23,1-17 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Illinois St. ILS	14	15	17	16	62
Bradley BRAD	16	11	13	13	53

Box Score

Illinois State Holds Off Bradley, 62-53

Rival Redbirds closed the game with a 10-1 surge to hold off the Braves

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/5/2022 4:46:00 PM | Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations

PEORIA, IL – Illinois State forward DeAnna Wilson put up 22 points and 17 rebounds, leading the visiting Redbirds (16-13, 12-6 MVC) to a 62-53 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball victory at I-74 rival Bradley (4-23, 1-17 MVC) Saturday afternoon at Renaissance Coliseum.

Coupled with Valparaiso's upset of Valley regular-season champion Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon, the 10th-seeded Braves will face No. 7 seed Drake (17-12, 9-9 MVC) at 7 p.m. Thursday to cap the first round of the Hoops in the Heartland 2021 MVC Women's Basketball Championship at TaxSlayer Center in Moline. Fourth-place Illinois State will take on No. 5 seed Loyola Chicago in Friday's second semifinal game.

While senior guard Aannah Interrante got the scoring started with a transition layup Saturday, it was Bradley's pair of sophomore forwards – Tete Danso and Isis Fitch – who sparked the Braves to a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. Danso blocked four shots in the quarter, while Fitch put up seven points in the opening stanza.

Shooting just 29.6 percent (16-54) from the field for the game, however, Bradley could not maintain the early momentum. Illinois State shot just 37.7 percent (23-61) from the field, but the Redbirds outrebounded the Braves, 49-34, and turned their 14 offensive rebounds into a decisive 15-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Rice shared team-high honors with 11 points for the Braves, while junior forward Sierra Morrow came of the bench with 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. JuJu Redmond backed up Wilson's effort with 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Trailing 50-43 with 6:58 left in the game, Bradley got a paint basket from Morrow and a 3-pointer from Rice to pull within 50-48 with 5:54 to go. After a Redmond floater, Morrow sank two free throws at 5:09 and again at 4:26 to pull the Braves into a 52-52 tie.

Chloe Van Zeeland broke the tie with a 3-pointer for a 55-52 Illinois State lead with 3:42 left and the Redbirds did not give the lead back as Bradley closed the game by missing its final seven field goal attempts.

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