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Wisconsin Women’s Basketball WNIT Super 16 Preview: Illinois State

The Wisconsin women’s basketball program is back for more WNIT action on Thursday night.

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Wisconsin women's basketball head coach Marisa Moseley
Oct 12, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, US; Wisconsin Badgers women's head coach Marisa Moseley speaks to the media during the Big Ten Basketball Media Days at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve got more postseason basketball, folks, and this time it’s coming live from the Kohl Center! Here is everything you need to know about the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball program’s upcoming opponent: the Illinois State Redbirds.

Wisconsin Women’s Basketball vs. Illinois State Preview

Illinois State Redbirds (21-11 overall, 13-7 Missouri Valley), 94th (Her Hoops Stats rank)

  • 74.2 points per game; 37th nationally
  • 68.6 opp. points per game; 262nd
  • +5.6 margin per game; 88th
  • Opp. average win%: 46.9%; 245th
  • Simple RPI: 52.2%; 130th

Finishing in the upper half of the MVC, Illinois State was one of four teams to make the WNIT out of their conference. A dominant (19-1 in conference) Drake team earned the MVC auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament while Belmont and Missouri State made the inaugural WNIT. Needless to say, the MVC is one of the top mid-major conferences in the nation. Both WBIT teams have lost to Big Ten teams and Drake was bounced from the NCAAT by Colorado in the first round.

ISU has already played two other teams from the state of Wisconsin this season in non-conference contests, losing to Green Bay by 26 points and Marquette by two, so playing the Badgers in Madison will be a nice way of bringing the season full circle. Similarly to UW’s prior WNIT opponent, Southern Indiana, Illinois State does not boast the strongest strength of schedule. The Redbirds lost their only two games against Power 6 teams, the aforementioned Marquette game and an 18-point loss to NC State, head coach Kristen Gillespie’s alma mater.

The Redbirds are led by grad student forward Deanna Wilson who was named All-MVC Second Team this year and she is deputized by freshman guard Shannon Dowell (All-MVC Freshman Team) and redshirt senior Maya Wong. Senior big Kate Bullman was named All-MVC Defensive Team after averaging 2.1 blocked shots per game, which was second best in the conference.

Also of note: this is the 20th time ISU and Wisconsin women’s basketball have met on the hardwood and the second time they’ve faced off in the WNIT. The Redbirds won the first postseason meeting, 62-59 in Madison, back in 2011 and they’ve also won the most recent meeting, beating UW 62-57 last season in Normal, Ill. The overall series has ISU with an 11-8 advantage all-time.

  • FG: 44.7%; 37th
  • 3P: 34.9%; 44th
  • FT: 77.3%; 23rd
  • eFG%: 50.9%; 32nd
  • 3P rate: 30.5%; 134th
  • FT rate: 21.1%; 14th

I copied the preview I did for USI into a new document and while I was adjusting the stats I noticed that ISU has an almost identical shooting profile to the Screaming Eagles, the only major discrepancy is that free throws are way better for ISU. The Screagles came out against Wisconsin shooting the damn lights out on their way to a massive halftime lead, so the Badgers should definitely keep that in mind in the opening minutes of this game.

The Redbirds have five players who shoot better than 36% from beyond the arc, but their top three players in three-point rate aren’t among them. So, you know, they’ve got a lot of people who shoot well but would probably be better served if those people shot more. As a team they get to the free throw line at an alarming (for opponents) amount and also make a ton of them too. The Badgers are above average at limiting fouls, but they’re going to have to be on their best showing on defense or else ISU can free throw you to death.

  • Opp. FG: 40.1%; 159th
  • Opp. 3P: 31.3%; 206th
  • Opp. FT: 71.5%; 182nd
  • Opp. eFG%: 45.8%; 186th
  • Opp. 3P rate: 32.6%; 310th
  • Opp. FT rate: 15.7%; 134th

As potent as their offense has been all season, the ISU defense leaves a bit to be desired. They’re middle of the pack in just about every statistic except for “percentage of points scored on free throws (good)” and “three-point rate (bad).” Wisconsin women’s basketball should be able to get some good looks against them but, as usual, it’ll all come down to if UW can actually make them at a respectable clip.

  • Off. rebounds per game: 8.8; 319th
  • Def. rebounds per game: 29.5; 16th
  • Total rebounds per game: 38.4; 83rd
  • Opp. off. rebounds per game: 10.1; 83rd
  • Opp. def. rebounds per game: 24.9; 179th
  • Opp. total rebounds per game: 35.0; 122nd

Their rebounding profile is pretty cut and dry: they are poor at offensive rebounding rate and very good at defensive rebounding. The Redbirds don’t crash the glass on misses and, as such, don’t give up a ton of points in transition. Wisconsin hasn’t been a big transition team this year, but they got out and ran a bunch against USI, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do against Illinois State. Serah Williams is the only Badger who regularly grabs offensive boards, so Wisconsin may want to send at least one more player (Halle Douglass?) down there to try and offset ISU’s defensive rebounding prowess.

  • Assists per game: 14.1; 106th
  • Turnovers per game: 14.7; 111th
  • Steals per game: 4.5; 356th
  • Blocks per game: 4.0; 56th

Here is some excellent news for Wisconsin women’s basketball: Illinois State has almost the worst steal rate/steals per game in the whole entire country. They only force 12.7 turnovers per game (337th) and have a 15.3% turnover rate (343rd) and, if you want to see a number that is even worse, their steal rate of 5.4% is 357th best out of 360 teams. If you’ve watched even one Wisconsin game this year you’ll know that they struggle with turnovers. Illinois State will not force too many so long as the Badgers aren’t throwing the ball out of bounds (which they sometimes do!) UW should be in business.


Illinois State top players

  • Kate Bullman, 6-foot-2, forward: 32 games/32 starts (31.2 mpg); 7.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 0.8 spg, 2.1 bpg, 1.9 tov; 39.0% FG/36.3% 3P/71.2% FT
  • Maya Wong, 5-foot-8, guard: 32/32 (28.6 mpg); 12.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 4.1 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2.3 tov; 47.2%/39.0%/86.1%
  • DeAnna WIlson, 6-foot-2, forward: 31/31 (26.3 mpg); 15.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.7 bpg, 2.1 tov; 48.1%/23.1%/76.7%
  • Shannon Dowell, 5-foot-10, guard: 32 games/19 starts (19.0 mpg); 9.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2.1 tov; 48.6% FG/25.8% 3P/80.7% FT
  • Abbie Aalsma, 5-foot-9, guard: from Waupun, Wis.; 7.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.1 apg

Wisconsin Badgers (14-16), Big Ten, 167th (Her Hoops Stats rank)

  • 62.0 ppg; 224th
  • 68.2 opp. ppg; 252nd
  • -6.2 margin per game; 267th
  • Opp. average win%: 56.4%; 49th
  • Simple RPI: 53.3%; 108th

Coming off a thrilling comeback victory over USI in the second round the Badgers return to the comfy confines of the Kohl Center for the WNIT Super 16. The Redbirds got out to an early lead against College of Charleston and then held on for a seven point win, so neither team has looked dominant in this tournament.


ISU has a number of tall forwards, who will be able to hold their own against Serah Williams, so the Badgers are going to have to make sure to get her the ball in good positions. Wisconsin women’s basketball will also need more from Brooke Schramek and Halle Douglass on the offensive end in this game to keep things balanced down low.

The Redbirds go nine (or 10, if you include freshman Savannah McGowan, out of Plymouth, Minn., who averages 8.9 mph) deep and they should be more rested at the end of the game than Wisconsin, who doesn’t go that deep. I think this game will be another close one with both teams scoring somewhere in the high 60s or low 70s.

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Drew Hamm is a seasoned sports journalist with an extensive background in covering the Wisconsin Badgers. He has previously held positions as the site manager at Bucky's 5th Quarter and founder of Badgers Ball Knower. Currently, he contributes as a staff writer for BadgerNotes.com.

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