The Illinois State women’s basketball team had begun its shootaround at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline on Thursday morning, but Redbird coach Kristen Gillespie knew something was afoot.
“The writing was kind of on the wall,” Gillespie said. “Instead of doing our normal shootaround, we just let them play. We had to break the news to them after practice. There was a lot of tears.”
The news was the cancellation of the Missouri Valley Conference’s women’s basketball tournament, which was scheduled to begin Thursday, out of growing concern for the spread of the coronavirus.
The Missouri Valley and ISU suspended all sports contests through March 30 on Thursday.