# 2018–19 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by first year head coach Kristen Gillespie, played their home games at Redbird Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 19–12, 11–7 in MVC play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley women's tournament, where they lost to Drake. Despite having 19 wins, they were not invited to a postseason tournament.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 4, 2018* 1:00 pm | | Quincy | W 82–55 | | Redbird Arena (550) Normal, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at SIU Edwardsville | L 61–68 | 0–1 | Vadalabene Center (929) Edwardsville, IL |
| Nov 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Dakota | W 67–55 | 1–1 | Redbird Arena (507) Normal, IL |
| Nov 17, 2018* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | L 41–50 | 1–2 | Convocation Center (1,036) Ypsilanti, MI |
| Nov 19, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | L 63–67 | 1–3 | Wolstein Center (132) Cleveland, OH |
| Nov 25, 2018* 1:00 pm | | at Butler | L 56–58 | 1–4 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (611) Indianapolis, IN |
| Nov 29, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Oakland | W 62–56 | 2–4 | Redbird Arena (564) Normal, IL |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Austin Peay | W 61–49 | 3–4 | Redbird Arena (547) Normal, IL |
| Dec 7, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Kentucky | W 58–53 | 4–4 | BB&T Arena (1,013) Highland Heights, KY |
| Dec 16, 2018* 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Maryville | W 61–52 | 5–4 | Redbird Arena (545) Normal, IL |
| Dec 20, 2018* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | Saint Louis | W 72–67 | 6–4 | Redbird Arena (3,500) Normal, IL |
| Dec 30, 2018* 2:00 pm | | at UMKC | W 62–55 | 7–4 | Swinney Recreation Center (713) Kansas City, MO |
| Missouri Valley regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Iowa | W 66–64 | 8–4 (1–0) | Redbird Arena (725) Normal, IL |
| Jan 6, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Drake | L 64–82 | 8–5 (1–1) | Redbird Arena (592) Normal, IL |
| Jan 11, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | L 44–59 | 8–6 (1–2) | Hulman Center (1,582) Terre Haute, IN |
| Jan 13, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 72–61 | 9–6 (2–2) | Meeks Family Fieldhouse (282) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 18, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southern Illinois | W 60–52 | 10–6 (3–2) | Redbird Arena (631) Normal, IL |
| Jan 20, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | L 47–59 | 10–7 (3–3) | Redbird Arena (782) Normal, IL |
| Jan 26, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bradley I-74 Rivalry | L 68–79 | 10–8 (3–4) | Redbird Arena (1,223) Normal, IL |
| Feb 1, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 59–62 | 10–9 (3–5) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (482) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 3, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | W 70–67 | 11–9 (4–5) | Athletics–Recreation Center (355) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 82–59 | 12–9 (5–5) | Redbird Arena (416) Normal, IL |
| Feb 10, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 78–70 | 13–9 (6–5) | Redbird Arena (1,184) Normal, IL |
| Feb 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | W 60–56 | 14–9 (7–5) | JQH Arena (1,750) Springfield, MO |
| Feb 17, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | W 68–66 | 15–9 (8–5) | SIU Arena (446) Carbondale, IL |
| Feb 22, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley I-74 Rivalry | L 65–75 | 15–10 (8–6) | Renaissance Coliseum (993) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 28, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Loyola–Chicago | W 65–52 | 16–10 (9–6) | Redbird Arena (497) Normal, IL |
| Feb 3, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 74–53 | 17–10 (10–6) | Redbird Arena (897) Normal, IL |
| Mar 7, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at No. 23 Drake | L 61–88 | 17–11 (10–7) | Knapp Center (3,555) Des Moines, IA |
| Mar 9, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | W 54–53 | 18–11 (11–7) | McLeod Center (1,596) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Missouri Valley Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 2019 2:30 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) Bradley Quarterfinals | W 61–55 | 19–11 | TaxSlayer Center (1,509) Moline, IL |
| Mar 16, 2019 1:30 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (1) No. 21 Drake Semifinals | L 54–65 | 19–12 | TaxSlayer Center Moline, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||