By Bryan Bloodworth

NORMAL – Illinois State’s women’s basketball team hopes the home court will be kind this weekend when it takes on Bradley and Loyola in Missouri Valley Conference action.

The Redbirds will be out to break a three-game skid Friday when they meet Bradley at 7 p.m. before taking on Loyola at 2 p.m. Sunday.

“We’re excited to be back at home,” said ISU coach Barb Smith. “We, obviously, had a challenging road trip, learned a lot, did some things well and did some things we can improve on. But we’re very excited to be coming back home. It’s always fun to play at home in Redbird Arena.”

Both games will have special activities surrounding them. Friday’s game is the annual “We Back Pat” game where the Redbirds help to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease. The game is named in honor of legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summit, who suffers from the disease.

“Our local Alzheimer’s association is coming out,” said Smith, who encourages fans to wear purple to show their support.  “We want to honor what the association is doing and their efforts locally and also honor people with Alzheimer’s.”

The Redbirds enter the game with a 1-4 Valley mark and a 3-13 overall record. Bradley is also 1-4 in the league and 5-11 overall.

“Bradley is going to be well-coached and they always get up for Illinois State,” added Smith. “They are going to be hard working, gritty, hard-nosed basketball team. We’re both hungry for a win, so it’s not going to be an easy battle.”

Sunday’s game is “Pack the Arena” when ISU takes on Loyola, which sits third in the Valley with a 4-1 record. The Ramblers are 8-8 overall.

“We want to have our biggest crowd of the year so far,” said Smith. “We want people to come out and help us get over the hump.”

Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]