2024–25 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team

2024–25 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball
WNIT, Fab 4
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record24–13 (14–6 MVC)
Head coach
  • Kristen Gillespie (8th season)
Associate head coachScott Gillespie
Assistant coaches
  • Drew Cole
  • Katrina Beck
  • Jordan Alford
  • Mannie Robinson
Home arenaCEFCU Arena
2024–25 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Murray State † 16 – 4   .800 25 – 8   .758
Missouri State 16 – 4   .800 26 – 9   .743
Belmont 15 – 5   .750 26 – 13   .667
Drake 15 – 5   .750 22 – 12   .647
14 – 6   .700 24 – 13   .649
Northern Iowa 11 – 9   .550 17 – 17   .500
UIC 10 – 10   .500 15 – 18   .455
Valparaiso 9 – 11   .450 13 – 19   .406
Bradley 7 – 13   .350 14 – 19   .424
Evansville 3 – 17   .150 7 – 25   .219
Southern Illinois 2 – 18   .100 4 – 26   .133
Indiana State 2 – 18   .100 4 – 28   .125
† 2025 MVC tournament winner

The 2024–25 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Redbirds, who were led by eighth-year head coach Kristen Gillespie, played their home games at CEFCU Arena in Normal, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Previous season

The Redbirds finished the 2023–24 season 21–11, 13–7 in MVC play, to finish in fifth place.[1] They defeated Evansville,[2] before falling to Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament.[3] They received an at-large bid to the WNIT,[4] where they would defeat Charleston in the second round,[5] before falling to Wisconsin in the Super 16.[6]

Preseason

On October 1, 2024, the MVC released their preseason coaches poll. Illinois State was picked to finish seventh in the MVC regular season.[7]

Preseason rankings

MVC preseason poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Drake 566 (39)
2 Northern Iowa 504 (6)
3 Belmont 475 (3)
4 Murray State 391
5 Missouri State 380
6 UIC 347
7 Illinois State 341
8 Valparaiso 193
9 Indiana State 189
10 Southern Illinois 167
11 Bradley 97
12 Evansville 96

Source:[7]

Preseason All-MVC Teams

Preseason All-MVC Team
Team Player Position Year
Second Maya Wong Guard Graduate student

Source:[7]

Roster

2024–25 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Shannon Dowell 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So O'Fallon Township High School O'Fallon, Illinois
G 1 Elyce Knudsen 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS Millikin Philo, Illinois
G/F 2 De'Shawnti Thomas 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Jr Old Dominion Tulsa, Oklahoma
G 3 Trista Fayta 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Notre Dame Academy Green Bay, Wisconsin
G 4 Lauren Cohen 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Glenbard South High School Wheaton, Illinois
G 5 Morgan Bruno 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Loyola Academy Chicago, Illinois
G 11 Caroline Waite 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) Sr Bradley Ames, Iowa
G 12 Maya Wong 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS Normal Community High School Normal, Illinois
G 15 Taylor Veach 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Jr Central DeWitt High School DeWitt, Iowa
F 21 Nevaeh Thomas 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Evansville Kenosha, Wisconsin
F 22 Doneelah Washington 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Lincoln Northeast High School Lincoln, Nebraska
G 23 Grace Nelson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Altamont High School Altamont, Illinois
F 24 Addison Martin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Jr Abilene Christian Shreveport, Louisiana
F 52 Savannah McGowan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Armstrong High School Plymouth, Minnesota
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: April 3, 2025

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2024*
2:00 pm 		Illinois Wesleyan W 101–86  –
 CEFCU Arena 
Normal, IL
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2024*
7:00 pm, B1G+ 		at Northwestern W 81–77  1–0
 Welsh–Ryan Arena (1,119)
Evanston, IL
November 12, 2024*
7:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Saint Louis L 71–78  1–1
 Chaifetz Arena (857)
St. Louis, MO
November 17, 2024*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Le Moyne W 71–55  2–1
 CEFCU Arena (3,974)
Normal, IL
November 24, 2024*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Harvard L 62–72  2–2
 CEFCU Arena (1,424)
Normal, IL
November 29, 2024*
10:00 am, FloHoops 		vs. Boise State
Gulf Coast Showcase first round 		L 76–79  2–3
 Hertz Arena (213)
Estero, FL
November 30, 2024*
10:00 am, FloHoops 		vs. High Point
Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round 		W 70–49  3–3
 Hertz Arena (203)
Estero, FL
December 1, 2024*
12:30 pm, FloHoops 		vs. New Mexico State
Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game 		W 82–66  4–3
 Hertz Arena (177)
Estero, FL
December 5, 2024*
11:00 am, ESPN+ 		St. Francis (IL) W 110–60  5–3
 CEFCU Arena (8,027)
Normal, IL
December 8, 2024*
2:00 pm, FloHoops 		at Marquette L 57–78  5–4
 Al McGuire Center (1,814)
Milwaukee, WI
December 15, 2024*
1:00 pm, NEC Front Row 		at Chicago State W 79–52  6–4
 Jones Convocation Center (149)
Chicago, IL
December 20, 2024*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		UAB L 68–71  6–5
 CEFCU Arena (1,532)
Normal, IL
MVC regular season
December 29, 2024
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Murray State L 80–91  6–6
(0–1) 		CFSB Center (1,478)
Murray, KY
January 2, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Indiana State W 96–69  7–6
(1–1) 		CEFCU Arena (1,596)
Normal, IL
January 4, 2025
4:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Evansville W 79–55  8–6
(2–1) 		CEFCU Arena (1,483)
Normal, IL
January 10, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Northern Iowa W 79–66  9–6
(3–1) 		CEFCU Arena (1,630)
Normal, IL
January 12, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Drake L 64–85  9–7
(3–2) 		CEFCU Arena (2,519)
Normal, IL
January 17, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Valparaiso W 79–65  10–7
(4–2) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (242)
Valparaiso, IN
January 19, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at UIC W 75–66  11–7
(5–2) 		Credit Union 1 Arena (728)
Chicago, IL
January 26, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Bradley
I-74 Rivalry 		W 74–58  12–7
(6–2) 		CEFCU Arena (2,302)
Normal, IL
January 31, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Southern Illinois W 78–60  13–7
(7–2) 		CEFCU Arena (1,589)
Normal, IL
February 2, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Missouri State W 66–55  14–7
(8–2) 		CEFCU Arena (2,784)
Normal, IL
February 7, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Drake L 74–79  14–8
(8–3) 		Knapp Center (2,547)
Des Moines, IA
February 9, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Northern Iowa L 52–72  14–9
(8–4) 		McLeod Center (2,589)
Cedar Falls, IA
February 13, 2025
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Indiana State W 85–77  15–9
(9–4) 		Hulman Center (1,110)
Terre Haute, IN
February 15, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Evansville W 73–53  16–9
(10–4) 		Meeks Family Fieldhouse (318)
Evansville, IN
February 20, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Belmont W 66–63  17–9
(11–4) 		CEFCU Arena (2,489)
Normal, IL
February 23, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Bradley
I-74 Rivalry 		L 65–70  17–10
(11–5) 		Renaissance Coliseum (951)
Peoria, IL
February 27, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		UIC W 65–64  18–10
(12–5) 		CEFCU Arena (1,821)
Normal, IL
March 1, 2025
4:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Valparaiso W 90–68  19–10
(13–5) 		CEFCU Arena (2,621)
Normal, IL
March 6, 2025
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Missouri State L 47–72  19–11
(13–6) 		Great Southern Bank Arena (2,415)
Springfield, MO
March 8, 2025
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		at Southern Illinois W 99–86  20–11
(14–6) 		Banterra Center (324)
Carbondale, IL
MVC tournament
March 13, 2025
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		(5) vs. (12) Southern Illinois
Opening round 		W 88–48  21–11
 Ford Center (708)
Evansville, IN
March 14, 2025
2:30 pm, ESPN+ 		(5) vs. (4) Drake
Quarterfinals 		L 69–75  21–12
 Ford Center (947)
Evansville, IN
WNIT
March 23, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Western Illinois
Second round 		W 90–80  22–12
 CEFCU Arena (1,551)
Normal, IL
March 27, 2025*
6:30 pm, YouTube 		Abilene Christian
Super 16 		W 78–68  23–12
 Shirk Center (1,380)
Bloomington, IL
March 31, 2025*
6:00 pm, ESPN+ 		Louisiana Tech
Great 8 		W 78–70  24–12
 CEFCU Arena (2,168)
Normal, IL
April 2, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Troy
Fab 4 		L 96–99  24–13
 CEFCU Arena (2,406)
Normal, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  2. ^ "ISU women's basketball rolls to first-round win over No. 12 Evansville". The Vidette. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  3. ^ "Illinois State University falls to University of Northern Iowa in Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament". KWQC-TV. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  4. ^ "Postseason WNIT officials release 48-team field for 2024 event". WNIT Pre and Post Tournament. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  5. ^ "ISU women defeat Charleston at CEFCU in 2nd round of WNIT". CIProud.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  6. ^ "Wisconsin women's basketball advances in WNIT with impressive offensive display vs. Illinois State". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "Drake Selected as the Favorite in MVC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  9. ^ "Illinois State Redbirds 2024-25 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
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