McLean County Times

Illinois State University's women's basketball team will host Illinois Wesleyan in an exhibition game at CEFCU Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. This matchup, which serves as a preseason test for both teams, is open to the public with free admission. While there will be no video broadcast, fans can listen live through the Varsity Network and local radio stations WJBC AM 1230 and FM 102.1.

This meeting marks the third consecutive preseason encounter between Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan. Last year, Illinois State won 101-86. In their first unofficial meeting before the 2023-24 season, the Redbirds secured a 94-56 victory.

Reflecting on last season, Illinois State advanced to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) Semifinal for only the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2011. The Redbirds have made three consecutive semifinal runs from 2009 to 2011 and earned six wins over Power Five conference opponents during those years. The team has now appeared in the WNIT sixteen times overall, including four trips under head coach Kristen Gillespie.

The Redbirds ended last season with a record of 24-13 overall and went 14-6 in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play. At home in CEFCU Arena, they posted a strong 14-4 record. With their third-straight campaign of at least twenty wins, Illinois State leads all Division I women's teams in Illinois in this category.

Seven players return from last year's squad that reached the WNIT Fab Four round. This group includes Doneelah Washington, who was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team, and Addison Martin, who was selected for the All-MVC Newcomer Team.

Addison Martin and Nevaeh Thomas are among several MVC "Players to Watch" for the upcoming season. Martin started all thirty-seven games last year and was one of six Redbirds to set a new single-season record for games played by appearing in every contest. She scored double digits eighteen times, including two games with more than twenty points; her highest-scoring game was twenty-three points against Southern Illinois.

Nevaeh Thomas averaged twelve points per game along with seven rebounds—leading her team—and two-and-a-half assists per game while ranking fifth in field goal percentage within the MVC at fifty-four point five percent. Thomas scored ten or more points in twenty-nine games—including each of her first fifteen outings—and achieved ten double-doubles over the season, becoming just the sixth player in program history to reach that milestone.

Illinois Wesleyan enters its new season led by veteran head coach Mia Smith, who has guided her team to over five hundred wins across twenty-seven years along with fourteen NCAA Tournament appearances and eleven College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) titles both for tournaments and regular seasons. Key returning players Sawyer White and Ava Bardic are expected to lead after four key contributors graduated last year.

For tickets or further information about Illinois State athletics events or merchandise, fans are encouraged to visit GoRedbirds.com or use the official Illinois State Redbirds app.