Women's Basketball Mike Williams

Redbirds Advance To WNIT Fab 4 With 61-53 Win Over George Washington

NORMAL, Ill. – For the second-straight season, Illinois State has punched its ticket to WNIT Fab 4 following its 61-53 victory over George Washington on Monday night at CEFCU Arena in the tournament quarterfinals. The Redbirds (23-13) had four players in double figures and were led by senior Addison Martin who scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the ISU victory over the Revolutionaries.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
•    After two teams battled back and forth to start the contest, the Redbirds scored five of their next seven field goals to take 11-6 lead with 2:40 left in the opening quarter on a three-pointer by Madison Austin. However, the Redbirds were held scoreless over the final two-plus minutes of the quarter and GW scored the final six points of the quarter to lead 12-11 after the first.
•    George Washington led by six at 21-15 with four to play before halftime, before Bella Finnegan drilled a three-pointer to cut the Revs lead in half at 21-18 out of the media timeout. Doneelah Washington then scored on a layup to cut the GW lead to one at 21-20 with three to play.
•    After GW went back up by three at 23-20, Trista Fayta connected from long distance to tie the game at 23-23 with 2:19 left on the clock. A three-point play by Fayta would then give the Redbirds the lead back at 26-25 with 1:24 left before the break, but a layup by the Revolutionaries with 1.3 before the break would give GW a one-point lead headed into the locker room at halftime.
•    Neither team could get much going at the start of the third quarter, as the Redbirds snapped a near three-minute scoring drought on a layup by Fayta to cut the lead to 32-30 with 5:48 left in the third quarter. On ISU's next possession, Fayta was fouled on her way to the hoop and made both free throws to tie the game at 32-32 with just over five to play in the third.
•    GW would go back up by four at 36-32, but Fayta came up big once again as she nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock was at one to trim the deficit to one at 36-35. A layup by Martin with under two minutes left in the quarter would then give the Redbirds a one-point lead before Finnegan drilled a three from the corner to move the ISU lead to four at 40-36 with 1:20 left on the clock.
•    The Redbirds would extend things to a 12-0 run after another three pointer from the corner by Finnegan to make the score 44-36, but a three-pointer as time expired in the third by the Revs would make it a five-point lead for ISU at 44-39 headed to the fourth quarter.
•    ISU would score the first three baskets of the fourth quarter to take its biggest lead of game at 50-39 after a layup by Martin with 6:55 left on the clock. After five-straight points from the Revs, Martin made another jumper in the lane to push the lead back to eight at 52-44. Washington would then score seven-straight points for the Redbirds to widen the lead to 59-49 with 2:40 remaining and the lead would grow to 12 after a bucket by Martin made it 61-49 with under two to play.
•    The Redbirds would hold on down the stretch to secure the 61-53 victory and advance to the Fab 4.

HIGHLIGHTS 
•    With the win, Illinois State improves to 22-13 on the season and 17-1 at home … the 17 home wins tie the school record of 17 set during the 2010-11 campaign.
•    ISU is now 6-1 in the WNIT over the past two seasons and has advanced to the WNIT Fab 4 for the second-straight year.
•    Illinois State had its best performance of the postseason from the three-point line against the Revs, shooting 50 percent (7-for-14) from long distance with three from Finnegan and two from Fayta.
•    The Redbirds dominated in the paint, outscoring the Revolutionaries 32-18.
•    Martin led four Redbirds in double figures with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
•    Washington recorded her 13th double-double of the year, with 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds against the Revs. 
•    Fayta finished with 13 points as well and added seven assists and five boards in the win for the Redbirds.
•    Finnegan rounded out the quartet of Redbirds in double figures with 11, thanks to a 3-for-4 effort from three-point range in the contest … it was her second game in double figures in the WNIT. 

UP NEXT 
Illinois State will travel to Vermillion, South Dakota, on Wednesday to take on the South Dakota Coyotes (26-9) with tipoff set for 7 p.m. CT at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

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