2023–24 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team

2023–24 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball
2023–24 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball
WNIT, Super 16
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	21–11 (13–7 MVC)
Head coach	Kristen Gillespie (7th season);
Associate head coach	Scott Gillespie
Assistant coaches	Drew Cole; Katrina Beck; Jordan Alford; Mannie Robinson;
Home arena	CEFCU Arena
	Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

The 2023–24 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by seventh-year head coach Kristen Gillespie, played their home games at CEFCU Arena in Normal, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

2023–24 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Drake †	19	–	1	.950	29	–	6	.829
Belmont	17	–	3	.850	26	–	9	.743
Missouri State	15	–	5	.750	23	–	10	.697
Northern Iowa	14	–	6	.700	16	–	16	.500
Illinois State	13	–	7	.650	22	–	12	.647
Murray State	12	–	8	.600	20	–	12	.625
UIC	10	–	10	.500	18	–	16	.529
Southern Illinois	6	–	14	.300	11	–	20	.355
Indiana State	6	–	14	.300	11	–	21	.344
Valparaiso	4	–	16	.200	5	–	25	.167
Bradley	2	–	18	.100	6	–	26	.188
Evansville	2	–	18	.100	4	–	28	.125

† 2024 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Redbirds finished the 2022–23 season 24–9, 17–3 in MVC play to finish in a tie for first place.^[1] In the MVC tournament, they defeated Murray State in the quarterfinals,^[2] before being upset by eventual tournament champions Drake in the semifinals.^[3] They received an automatic bid into the WNIT,^[4] where they would lose to Missouri in the first round.^[5]

Roster

2023–24 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)	Fr	O'Fallon Township High School	O'Fallon, Illinois
G	1	Molly Lenz	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Eden Prairie High School	Eden Prairie, Minnesota
G	3	Abbie Aalsma	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Waupun High School	Waupun, Wisconsin
G	4	Lauren Cohen	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Jr	Glenbard South High School	Wheaton, Illinois
G	5	Daijah Smith	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Wabash Valley College	Gary, Indiana
G	11	Caroline Waite	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	Jr	Bradley	Ames, Iowa
G	12	Maya Wong	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	RS Sr	Normal Community High School	Normal, Illinois
G	13	Brooke Coffey	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Incarnate Word Academy	St. Charles, Missouri
G	15	Taylor Veach	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Central DeWitt High School	DeWitt, Iowa
F	24	DeAnna Wilson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	GS	Moberly Area Community College	St. Louis, Missouri
F/C	25	Lexi Boles	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Dowling Catholic High School	Des Moines, Iowa
F	32	Kate Bullman	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	Grayslake Central High School	Grayslake, Illinois
F	33	Hannah Kelle	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	GS	Lincoln Southwest High School	Lincoln, Nebraska
F	52	Savannah McGowan	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Armstrong High School	Plymouth, Minnesota

Head coach

Kristen Gillespie (NC State)

Assistant coach(es)

Scott Gillespie (Ripon)
Drew Cole (Aurora)
Katrina Beck (Illinois State)
Jordan Alford (Columbia (MO))
Mannie Robinson (Talladega)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 4, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 29, 2023* 1:00 pm	Illinois Wesleyan	W 94–56	–	CEFCU Arena (–) Normal, IL
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023* 5:00 pm, SLN	at Omaha	W 105–59	1–0	Baxter Arena (512) Omaha, NE
November 11, 2023* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Mount St. Mary's	L 62–88	1–1	Baxter Arena (1,863) Omaha, NE
November 15, 2023* 11:00 am, ESPN+	SIU Edwardsville	W 90–86	2–1	CEFCU Arena (7,581) Normal, IL
November 19, 2023* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	St. Francis (IL)	W 89–51	3–1	CEFCU Arena (1,039) Normal, IL
November 24, 2023* 6:00 pm	vs. UT Arlington Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic	W 87–63	4–1	University Credit Union Pavilion (89) Moraga, CA
November 25, 2023* 5:30 pm, ESPN+	at Saint Mary's Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic	W 62–51	5–1	University Credit Union Pavilion (352) Moraga, CA
November 30, 2023* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Chicago State	W 102–47	6–1	CEFCU Arena (916) Normal, IL
December 3, 2023* 1:00 pm, ACCNX	at No. 5 NC State	L 61–79	6–2	Reynolds Coliseum (5,500) Raleigh, NC
December 10, 2023* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	No. 19 Marquette	L 62–64	6–3	CEFCU Arena (2,129) Normal, IL
December 19, 2023* 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Saint Louis	W 87–81	7–3	CEFCU Arena (1,281) Normal, IL
MVC regular season
December 30, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+	Bradley I-74 Rivalry	W 78–74	8–3 (1–0)	CEFCU Arena (2,241) Normal, IL
January 4, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Belmont	L 52–64	8–4 (1–1)	Curb Event Center (878) Nashville, TN
January 6, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Murray State	L 55–90	8–5 (1–2)	CFSB Center (1,631) Murray, KY
January 10, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Southern Illinois	W 76–43	9–5 (2–2)	CEFCU Arena (1,075) Normal, IL
January 14, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Missouri State	W 85–78	10–5 (3–2)	CEFCU Arena (1,056) Normal, IL
January 19, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Valparaiso	W 77–68	11–5 (4–2)	Athletics–Recreation Center (295) Valparaiso, IN
January 21, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at UIC	L 79–86 ^OT	11–6 (4–3)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,731) Chicago, IL
January 25, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Northern Iowa	W 88–77	12–6 (5–3)	CEFCU Arena (1,614) Normal, IL
January 27, 2024 4:00 pm, Marquee/ESPN+	Drake	W 79–70	13–6 (6–3)	CEFCU Arena (2,487) Normal, IL
February 4, 2024 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Indiana State	W 64–59	14–6 (7–3)	Hulman Center (1,209) Terre Haute, IN
February 8, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Northern Iowa	L 47–74	14–7 (7–4)	McLeod Center (3,834) Cedar Falls, IA
February 10, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Drake	L 64–79	14–8 (7–5)	Knapp Center (3,792) Des Moines, IA
February 15, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+	UIC	W 64–61	15–8 (8–5)	CEFCU Arena (1,379) Normal, IL
February 17, 2024 5:00 pm, ESPN+	Valparaiso	W 78–64	16–8 (9–5)	CEFCU Arena (2,941) Normal, IL
February 22, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Bradley I-74 Rivalry	W 68–50	17–8 (10–5)	Renaissance Coliseum (510) Peoria, IL
February 25, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Evansville	W 78–50	18–8 (11–5)	CEFCU Arena (2,412) Normal, IL
February 29, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Southern Illinois	W 75–66	19–8 (12–5)	Banterra Center (600) Carbondale, IL
March 2, 2024 2:00 pm, MVCN/ESPN+	at Missouri State	L 62–67	19–9 (12–6)	Great Southern Bank Arena (3,030) Springfield, MO
March 7, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+	Murray State	W 85–75	20–9 (13–6)	CEFCU Arena (1,472) Normal, IL
March 9, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+	Belmont			CEFCU Arena Normal, IL
MVC tournament
March 14–17, 2024 ESPN+/ESPN2	vs.			Vibrant Arena at The MARK Moline, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[6]^[7]

References

^ "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Redbirds Advance to MVC Semifinals Behind Robinson's 21". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Drake women's basketball rolls into MVC Tournament final with blowout win over Illinois State". Des Moines Register. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Bracket, Round 1 matchups and times announced for 2023 Postseason WNIT". WNIT Pre and Post Tournament. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Women's Basketball Downs Illinois State, Advances to Second Round of WNIT". University of Missouri Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
^ "Illinois State Redbirds 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[1] "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[2] "Redbirds Advance to MVC Semifinals Behind Robinson's 21". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[3] "Drake women's basketball rolls into MVC Tournament final with blowout win over Illinois State". Des Moines Register. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[4] "Bracket, Round 1 matchups and times announced for 2023 Postseason WNIT". WNIT Pre and Post Tournament. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[5] "Women's Basketball Downs Illinois State, Advances to Second Round of WNIT". University of Missouri Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[6] "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". Illinois State University Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

[7] "Illinois State Redbirds 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2024.

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