McLean County Times

Illinois State University's women's basketball team is set to commence the home segment of its Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) schedule this week. The Redbirds, holding a record of 6-6 and 0-1 in MVC play, will face Indiana State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Evansville on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Redbirds have established significant winning streaks against both Indiana State and Evansville, two of their current MVC rivals. Illinois State has triumphed over Indiana State in their last ten encounters, including a close 64-59 victory last season in Terre Haute. Overall, Illinois State leads the series against Indiana State with a record of 60-45, including a dominant 35-15 advantage when playing at home in Normal.

Against Evansville, Illinois State boasts an even more impressive record, having won their last fourteen meetings. The all-time series stands at 44-19 in favor of the Redbirds. In games played in Normal, Illinois State holds a 21-10 lead. Notably, Evansville has not secured a win at CEFCU Arena since January 2015. Last season saw Illinois State defeating Evansville twice: once at home with a score of 78-50 and again during the MVC Tournament with an 85-64 victory.

Shannon Dowell made headlines with her outstanding performance during the MVC opener against Murray State on Sunday. Dowell scored an impressive 28 points, marking it as the highest point total by any Redbird player this season and her third game scoring over twenty points this year. Her performance was also notable for being the most points scored by a Redbird in an MVC opener since at least the 2009-10 season.

Dowell's shooting accuracy was commendable as she hit ten out of seventeen shots from the field, achieving a shooting percentage of 58.8%. This marked her second game this season where she scored over twenty points while maintaining above fifty-five percent shooting accuracy from the field.

The team's overall shooting performance has been strong as well. During their opening MVC match against Murray State, Illinois State shot fifty-eight point nine percent from the field—a feat they have achieved only three times since the start of the previous season.

For fans interested in attending games or supporting the team through various means such as purchasing tickets or merchandise, GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App are available resources.