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Reinhardt top games No. 5: Illinois State women thrill home crowd with WNIT win over Illini

The 2010 WNIT bracket was kind to the Illinois State women’s basketball team.

It was kind not in funneling weak opponents the Redbirds’ way, but instead offering challenging, confidence-building games to set up a March 28 encounter at Redbird Arena.

ISU defeated Butler, 57-54, traveled to Purdue to edge the Boilermakers, 59-57, behind 21 Nicolle Lewis points and handled Kansas, 71-51, at home sparked by 15 points and seven rebounds from Ashleen Bracey.

Those three victories forged a dream matchup with the University of Illinois heading to Normal for a quarterfinal game. The Illini had toppled ISU, 62-51, on Nov.