Altamont Grad Nelson and ISU Lady Redbirds Headed to WNIT Championship

Altamont grad and current Illinois State University women’s basketball guard Grace Nelson and her Lady Redbirds teammates are headed to the Championship game of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament after ISU beat South Dakota on Wednesday night, 67-60, in the tournament’s semifinal round. Nelson cracked the starting five for ISU for their final regular season game on March 8 against Bradley and has been a mainstay in the starting lineup as ISU went 1-1 in the Women’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and as the Redbirds have made their 4-0 run through the WNIT. ISU beat University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley 81-52 in the Second Round after a First Round BYE, beat Abilene Christian 59-55 in the Super 16 and got a 61-53 win over George Washington in the Great 8 before their Fab 4 win over South Dakota. The Lady Redbirds will now meet up with the Marshall Thundering Herd in the Championship game on Saturday at 2:00pm in Huntington, West Virginia. ISU heads into the game at 24-13 on the season while The Herd are 27-9.