Illinois State women announce non-conference schedule

Posted on August 2, 2016

Barb Smith’s Redbirds finished 8-22 last season. (Photo courtesy GoRedbirds.com)

By ISU Sports Information

NORMAL – The Illinois State women’s basketball team is slated to play an 11-game nonconference schedule, it was announced Monday by head coach Barb Smith.

The Redbirds will play six games inside Redbird Arena and five true road contests, with four of those coming against in-state schools. Three opponents played in either the NCAA Tournament, the Women’s National Invitational Tournament or the Women’s Basketball Invitational last season.

“I think we have a great schedule this year,” Smith said. “It challenges us early and will help us ultimately prepare for conference play. We have a young team this year, and playing the great competition that our nonconference schedule brings will help us learn very early where we stand. I’m excited to see what this group of women can do. They are working very hard and are driven to get better.”

ISU opens the season Friday, Nov. 11 at Arizona State (26-7, 16-2 Pac-12) against a Sun Devils’ team who is coming off a second-round loss as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Redbirds will then travel to Chicago to take on UIC (12-18, 3-15 Horizon) Monday, Nov. 14.

Five days later (Saturday, Nov. 19), ISU hosts Valparaiso (10-21, 5-13 Horizon League) inside Redbird Arena for the 2016-17 home opener, before welcoming Yale (14-17, 5-9 Ivy) Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Two days after Thanksgiving, the Redbirds will navigate north on Interstate 39 to DeKalb to play Northern Illinois (11-19, 4-14 MAC) Nov. 26, which will close out the November portion of the schedule.

ISU returns to Redbird Arena Thursday, Dec. 1 to start a four-game homestand, with the first contest coming against Eastern Illinois (3-25, 2-14 OVC). A pair of Wisconsin schools will then travel to Normal, with Wisconsin (7-22, 3-15 B1G) visiting Sunday, Dec. 4, before Milwaukee (19-13, 12-6 Horizon), who played in the 2016 WNIT, comes Wednesday, Dec. 7. The homestand ends Sunday, Dec. 11 when the Redbirds host George Mason (12-19, 6-10 A-10).

After a nine-day break for finals, ISU returns to the court Tuesday, Dec. 20 when it travels to Macomb to take on Western Illinois (16-16, 8-8 Summit), who participated in the Women’s Basketball Invitational last season. The nonconference slate ends three days later (Friday, Dec. 23) when the Redbirds head down Interstate 55 to Edwardsville to face SIUE (18-13, 12-4 OVC).

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