Women’s Basketball Dominates Redbirds for First Win Against Illinois State Since 2022

Friday, February 13

Carbondale, Ill.

6 p.m.

Southern Illinois University

9-13,6-7MVC

Illinois State

14-10,8-5MVC

Illinois St.

Southern Ill.

Women’s Basketball Dominates Redbirds for First Win Against Illinois State Since 2022

02/13/2026 | 11:56:00 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Borkowski

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois women's basketball (9-13, 6-7) opened a three-game homestand on Friday night by welcoming Illinois State (14-10, 8-5) to Banterra Center. After a tight first quarter, the Salukis pulled away to beat the Redbirds 84-60, SIU's first win over Illinois State in eight tries.

"We challenged them to play five possessions at a time," says assistant coach Greg Brown. "We said forget the score; we're playing the next five possessions. Here's what we're doing offensively, here's what we're doing defensively, and then we'd reset at five. And they did a tremendous job of not letting the score or the call affect what they were doing."

Inside the Box Score

Alayna Kraus dropped her first career 30-piece while shooting an efficient 57.1% from the field.
Kayla Cooper was lights out from beyond the arc, converting five of her nine attempts on her way to 17 points.
SIU in general shot well from three-point land, making 60% of their 20 tries.

How it Happened

First Quarter
After Illinois State struck first, Kraus gave Southern the lead off a threeball. The Redbirds responded with a make of their own to retake the lead, but a 12-0 run from Southern quickly put them up 15-5 with under five minutes left in the first.

Illinois State finally picked the scoring back up at 3:33 with a layup as they scored the next scored the next seven points to pull back within a single possession. Both teams scored a bucket in the closing minute of the quarter to set the score at 17-14 heading into the final break.

Second Quarter
The teams swapped baskets to start the second quarter before the Salukis ripped off a 16-point spree to build a 35-16 lead with 3:21 to play. Redbird free throws stopped the bleeding, and they added layup to pull within 15. Free throws from Southern and a threepointer meant the Salukis doubled up Illinois State, 40-20, with under a minute remaining in the half.

Illinois State outscored Southern 5-2 in the final 59 seconds to send the teams to halftime with SIU on top, 42-25.

Third Quarter
Coming out of half, the Redbirds scored six of the first nine points to cut the Salukis lead down to 14. After a pair of Southern freebies, five straight from the Redbirds pulled made their deficit just 11 points.

After trading baskets 14 seconds apart, four Saluki points jumped their lead back up to 15. Illinois State managed to sink a free throw, but that was followed by a Kraus three and Indya Green free throw to go up 18 with 3:41 left in the third.

The Redbirds scored a layup before another Southern four-point run to regain a 20-point lead, 61-41. Both teams scored on a jumper in the final 90 seconds, but the quarter ended with a Kynnedi Davis half-court heave that found its way through the hoop, setting the score at 66-43 going into the final 10 minutes.

Fourth Quarter
Cooper started the fourth quarter with a make from beyond the arc. Tkiyah Nelson added to the Southern lead with a pair of free-throw makes before the Redbirds scored their first points of the quarter off a longball. Green and Kraus added another four points to SIU's total prior to another Illinois State basket.

With less than five minutes to play, SIU put up another four-point spree to go up 79-48. The Redbirds managed a 6-0 run that was quickly ended by another Cooper three. Both teams put up two points around the two-minute mark, and Illinois State ended the game with a four-point run to make the finalize the score at 84-60 in favor of the Salukis.

Up Next
It is a quick turnaround for Southern, who is back in action on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m.

Follow the Salukis
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_WBasketball, on Instagram at @SIU_WBasketball, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.