McLean County Times

Illinois State University's women's basketball team has released its 2025 non-conference schedule, featuring six home games at CEFCU Arena.

Head coach Kristen Gillespie commented on the upcoming season's challenges. "We have built a non-conference schedule that will test our team. This is most challenging schedule we have had in my tenure at Illinois State. These games will give us valuable opportunities to grow, measure ourselves against great competition and set the tone the season," Gillespie said.

The Redbirds will begin their preseason with an exhibition game against Illinois Wesleyan on October 26 at CEFCU Arena, marking the third straight year for this matchup.

Regular season play starts at home on November 3 against Dayton. The team will then travel to Champaign to face Illinois on November 9. On November 12, Illinois State hosts Chicago State for its annual Education Day game before heading to Chicago to play Loyola on November 18. The final home game in November will be against Saint Louis on November 21.

The Redbirds are scheduled to participate in the Discover Puerto Rico Shootout from November 26-28 at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, where they will compete against Rice, East Carolina, and Wake Forest.

After returning from Puerto Rico, Illinois State will host Eastern Illinois on December 6. The team then travels to Lincoln to play Nebraska on December 14 and concludes its non-conference slate at home versus Oakland on December 19 before starting Missouri Valley Conference play.

Illinois State brings back seven players from last year's squad, which reached the WNIT Fab 4 and finished with a record of 24-13 overall and a conference mark of 14-6. Key returners include Doneelah Washington, who was named to the MVC All-Freshman team, and Addison Martin, who made the All-MVC Newcomer team.

Fans can find more information about tickets and other updates through GoRedbirds.com or the Illinois State Redbirds App.