Abilene Christian (22-12, 9-7) vs. Illinois State (22-12, 14-6)
Thursday, March 27 | 6:30 p.m. (CT)
Bloomington, Ill. | Shirk Center
Postseason WNIT - Super 16
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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Abilene Christian women's basketball continues its historic run through the Women's National Invitation Tournament with a Super 16 matchup versus Illinois State at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The Wildcats' first-ever meeting with the Redbirds will be hosted at the Shirk Center on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.
ACU is in the midst of its deepest postseason run in the program's Division I history, reaching the third round of a tournament for the first time ever. The Wildcats have been powered by a pair of dominant wins to open the WNIT, taking down Northwestern State in Abilene, 86-59, before a 75-53 victory at Central Arkansas on Monday.
Illinois State opened its WNIT stay with a 90-80 win over Western Illinois on Sunday after receiving a first round bye. The Redbirds share an identical 22-12 record with the Wildcats following a fifth-place showing in the Missouri Valley Conference at 14-6.
The Redbirds are no stranger to the WNIT, making their fourth trip to the tournament in the past five seasons and 16th appearance in program history. They are 17-10 in the event since 2000, including a 14-3 mark at home in that time.
ACU has earned a 20-point performance from three separate players across its two WNIT matchups, beginning with
Erin Woodson's 21-point effort versus the Lady Demons.
Payton Hull and
Meredith Mayes followed her by scoring 28 and 20 points, respectively, versus the Sugar Bears.
Hull now owns the record for the most points scored by a Wildcat in a postseason tournament game, surpassing Anna McLeod's 25 points scored versus Florida International in 2021. Hull and Mayes now make up ACU's highest-scoring duo in a postseason tournament matchup.
Bella Earle and Mayes remain in striking distance of several career and single-season records in the Wildcats' Division I era. In the past three games, Earle has grabbed the top spot for field goals, steals and minutes played in a season. She needs 11 assists to move into third place and nine rebounds to surpass herself in fifth place in the respective single-season categories.
Earle is 13 points shy of moving into sixth place on the career scoring list, currently boasting 1,213. Four more steals would shift her to third place in the program's record books, while seven would put her in second place.
Mayes owns the second-most offensive rebounds in a season with 103 and requires 11 to level up to No. 1. Her 36 blocks rank sixth, and she'll need three more to take fifth place.
After giving up an average of just 56 points through their first two games of the WNIT, the Wildcats will meet one of the nation's top scoring offenses in the Redbirds. Their 75.3 points per game rank 39th in the country, while their 48.1% field goal shooting is seventh-best. Illinois State knocks down 37.0% of its three-pointers, good for 13th.
The Redbirds' unstoppable force will collide with the Wildcats' immovable object in a defense that allowed a 36.7% scoring clip with a 27.6% mark from beyond the arc in its first two WNIT games.
Shannon Dowell leads the Illinois State scoring attack with 16.9 points per game at a 48.8% clip, earning her All-MVC Second Team honors. She combined with Elyce Knudsen to score 51 points against Western Illinois, tied for the highest-scoring duo in a postseason game in team history.
Knudsen scores 13.9 points per game, and, with a 42.9% mark from long distance, is third in the program record books with 81 three-pointers this season. She hit five versus the Leathernecks and is joined on the MVC Newcomer Team by ACU transfer
Addison Martin. Following three seasons with the Wildcats, Martin paces the Redbirds with a 57.9% shooting percentage to average 11.4 points.
Doneelah Washington was named to the MVC Freshman Team while leading Illinois State with 0.9 blocks per game to go with 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds. Her 25 blocks in conference play led the league's freshmen and were fifth overall.
The winner of Thursday's matchup will advance to the WNIT's Great 8 against the winner of Wednesday's game between Lindenwood and Louisiana Tech.
