On a muggy April afternoon inside a hot Cam Henderson Center in Huntington, West Virginia, the Illinois State women’s basketball team’s shooting remained cold in a 66-41 loss to Marshall University in the WNIT championship Saturday.
Illinois State scored the first basket in the program’s first WNIT title game. Grace Nelson’s 3-point shot from 24 feet would give ISU its only lead of the game.
"We just kind of ran into a buzzsaw," ninth-year head coach Kristen Gillespie said in the postgame news conference.
The Thundering Herd [28-9] stormed out to a 21-10 lead after the first quarter and maintained a 31-21 advantage at halftime in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 5,475. Marshall opened the second half with 12 consecutive points to cruise to victory.
The ESPN telecast noted the air conditioning was not working inside the arena.
Gillespie made no excuses for that, noting both teams had to play in that environment after making cross-country trips to get to the game.
"We've never been a program to make excuses or point fingers. This is all on us. This is all on me. It's a great learning moment," she said.
ISU shot 29% from the floor [14 of 48] and made 3 of 17 three-point baskets. Senior Addison Martin led ISU with 11 points.
The Redbirds, who advanced to the WNIT Fab Four last April, ends the season with a 24-14 record.
"Coming into this game, we were playing with house money with how young we were. We've had some adversity, but this is the only group that's ever been to a WNIT championship. We are going to walk out of here with our heads high no matter what," Gillespie said. "One game does not define this program or this team,
While the Redbirds graduate four seniors, much of the nucleus is expected to return next season.
"Seventy-five percent of our scoring [came from] freshman and sophomores," Gillespie said. "We have a chance to be really good for a while."
