CORALVILLE, Iowa – Illinois State waited longer than anyone to play a game in the Credit Union1 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament and now the Redbirds will get a chance to play another.
 
Trista Fayta scored 15 of her 22 points in the second half and Doneelah Washington added 20 to lift the third-seeded Redbirds past Drake 69-62 Friday night to complete the quarterfinal round.
 
Bouncing back from an 18-point loss at Drake eight days ago, Illinois State (20-12) notched its third straight 20-win season and reached the semifinals for the first time since 2023. The Redbirds will play tournament upstart Evansville at 4 p.m. on Saturday for the right to advance to Sunday’s championship game.
 
Evansville (9-24) became the first No. 10 seed to get this far with a 76-63 upset of second-seeded Belmont. It will the first time the Aces and Redbirds have met in the semis.
 
Abbie Aalsma, who played her first two seasons at Illinois State, led sixth-seeded Drake (12-20) with 24 points and Lexi Carlsen matched her season high with 15, going 6-for-9 from the field and adding five rebounds. This is just the second time in the last 10 tournaments that the Bulldogs have failed to advance out of the quarterfinals. They lead all Valley teams with 55 tournament wins and nine championships.
 
The Bulldogs will have to wait at least another year before making it 10, one reason being Illinois State’s dominance in the rebounding. Drake leads the league in rebounds and rebound margin, but the Redbirds outdid the Bulldogs 40-27 on the boards and had 10 offensive rebounds, leading to a 10-0 edge in second-chance points.
 
Down 24-19 after Drake’s Quinn Vice hit a 3-pointer, Illinois State finished the second quarter on a 16-6 run for a 36-30 halftime lead and stayed in front the rest of the way. The Redbirds built their lead to 13, then held off a late charge by the Bulldogs.
 
Ava Hawthorne’s short jumper and her steal and pass to Aalsma speeding to the basket for a layup cut the lead to 67-62 with 29.9 seconds left. It got no closer. The Bulldogs missed their final four shots and the Redbirds made just enough free throws – 2-of-6 – to finish it off.
 
Illinois State scored its final nine points on free throws, its last field goal coming on Washington’s layup with 4:34 left.