The Illinois State women’s basketball team (19-13, 12-6 MVC) punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, defeating the University of Northern Iowa (22-10, 13-5 MVC), 50-48, in the title game of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Sunday, March 13.

This marks the first time since 2008 that Illinois State has made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the sixth appearance overall. The Redbirds will face the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday, March 18 at 3 p.m. (CDT) in Iowa City, IA. Ticket information for Friday’s first-round NCAA game will be available at GoRedbirds.com. The game will be aired on ESPN.

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In Sunday’s championship game, fifth year Juliunn Redmond led all scorers with 21 points, going 8-of-19 from the floor and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Redshirt sophomore Maya Wong finished just two shy of her career high in points, ending with 15 points and four assists. Sophomore Kate Bullman had a game-high nine rebounds paired with four points.