Category: Headlines

The Illinois State Women’s Basketball team will be headed back to the Missouri Valley Conference Championship game for the first time in 5 years. It took an overtime period but the ‘Birds were able to defeat the number two seeded Creighton Bluejays in the semi-finals. Candace Sykes led the way for ‘Birds recording her second straight double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

ISU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead but Creighton responded scoring four quick points to get to within one. That was as close as the Bluejays would get in the first half as the two teams traded buckets until about six minutes to go in the half. The Redbirds were up by two before going on a 14 to 5 run to end the half and lead by 11.

In the second half Creighton looked like a completely different team as they found their shooting stroke from behind the arc. The Bluejays started the half shooting a ridiculous 4-5 from behind the arc as they proceeded to go on a 24-6 run to open the second half and take their first lead of the night by a score of 42-37.

Creighton would extend their lead to nine points, with a 55-46 lead, before the Redbirds battled back. Creighton would go ice cold after their hot start to the second half failing to score in the final 5:20 of the game. The birds would go on a 9 to 0 run to end regulation and send the game into overtime as both teams failed to score in the final two minutes of the game.

In overtime both teams struggled to score until Candace Sykes hit a 3-pointer and drew a foul with just under three minutes left, but she would miss the free throw attempt. The ‘Birds would not give up the lead for the rest of the game as Creighton got the lead down to one a couple different times. Good free throw shooting down the stretch helped the Redbirds go on to a 64-61 victory.

In a game where both teams struggled shooting the ball it was the defense that propelled ISU Women’s Basketball Team to victory over the Bradley Braves. This is the first time in four years that the Redbirds were able to advance past the quarter finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The Braves took an early 10-8 lead and eventually went up 15-9 as ISU went almost 6 minutes without a basket. Janae Smith carried the Redbirds early on with six quick points before a crucial time out. With about 10 minutes left in the first half Head Coach Stephanie Glance called a timeout that seemed to spark the redbirds as the preceded to go on a 17-1 run to end the half leading by 10.

In the second half Jamie Russell traded baskets with Katie Yohn of the Braves as the two players finally found their shooting stroke. The two teams went back and forth with the Redbirds maintaining a comfortable lead until the final minutes of the game.

Bradley finally found a way to slow down Russell and the Birds as they got to within two points with about two minutes left. However, as the Birds have done all season, they locked down defensively and forced the Braves into tough shots that just wouldn’t fall. Bradley was forced to foul down the stretch which allowed the birds to build the lead back up and win by the final score of 59-48.

BLOOMINGTON – A call came in to the Bloomington fire department reporting a house fire Friday evening. Between the hours of 9:00 and 10:00 pm the fire was reported at a residence on the east side of the city.

No injuries have been reported yet as firefighters continue to battle the blaze and are expected to be on the scene past midnight.

WZND will continue to update you on this developing story.

The Town of Normal met yesterday and among the general orders they passed was unanimously approving the ordinance for the operating and capitol investment budget for the fiscal year 2013-2014. The Council congratulated City Manager Mark Peterson and his team for spending the past six months meeting with every department in the town  to discuss how much money they need, possible grants, and operational costs. The team created a budget out of all these factors.  This year’s budget is very similar to last year’s budget, the Council has a rule where they have to maintain at least 10% of General Expenditures and this year they are expected to have over 12% in reserves. Mr. Peterson felt that his team created a very responsible presentation for the Town Council. The next Town Council is scheduled for March 18th at 7:00 pm.

NORMAL– The Illinois State Board of Trustees met for the first time this Spring semester Friday morning. Among the various items discussed the Board along with President Al Bowman introduced their Goals for 2013. President Bowman’s main goal for 2013 was to develop a new long-range financial plan that insures the continued quality, strength, and viability of the University during uncertain economic times. One of the main goals this year  for the Board of Trustees is to promote a stronger university image that describes the Strengths of ISU, students, and academics programs, distinguishing Illinois State as the best university in Illinois. The goals set of for this year by President Bowman and the Board help the Educate Illinois Program and are in line with ISU values. The Board of Trustees meet five times a year, the next meeting is May 10th.

More information on the Board of Trustees can be found at http://illinoisstate.edu/trustees/

NORMAL—The Illinois State Redbird women’s basketball team (4-2) was looking to continue their three game winning streak, when they welcomed the Michigan Wolverines to Doug Collins Court. The Wolverines came into the game with a record of 6-2 and a 3-0 record against ISU in a short history between the two teams. Janae Smith led the Redbirds with 11 points and seven rebounds, but that wasn’t enough to continue their winning streak. After coming out strong in both halves, the Wolverines three point shooting was too much for the Redbirds to handle and they fell to the Wolverines 56-45.

Early in the first half, the Redbird defense was up to the challenge against a much bigger Wolverine team causing five turnovers in the first five minutes of the game. Trying to match a tough defensive effort, the Redbirds struggled from the field halfway through the first half after a quick start.  Michigan’s height showed early in the game, doubling up the Redbirds rebound total, 15-7. The Redbirds struggled from three-point line in the first half going 3-11 beyond the arc.  Smith led the Redbirds offensively in the first half shooting 50 percent from the field with six points and four rebounds. The Redbirds ended the first half on a 10-2 run to cut the Wolverines lead to two heading into halftime with the score 23-21.

The Redbirds came out of halftime on fire with an 8-2 run early, but Michigan was able to quiet the Redbirds answering with a 9-0 run of their own, regaining the lead. Michigan’s leading scorer, Kate Thompson, was a tough matchup for the Redbirds to handle with 18 points and shooting under 50 percent from the field including 4-9 from behind the arc in the game. The Redbirds had a hard time drawing any fouls all game leading to only cashing in one time out of four trips to the charity stripe late into the second half. A five-minute scoring drought late in the game for the Redbirds let the Wolverines build an 11-point lead that they would not surrender as they would knock down a couple of late free throws to seal the 56-45 victory.

The Redbirds are back in action on Friday December 7^th when they finish their Big Ten filled week with a matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats at Redbird Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 P.M.  Live coverage can be heard on 103.3 WZND or WZND.com.

Normal – The brand new Uptown Station was unveiled Saturday morning and shown off to residents and media.

This was a plan in the making of over 11 years. The main reason that Normal now has a new Uptown Station is the government backing of President Obama and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

This project was mostly funded by federal government, including a $22 million dollar TIGER grant.

Uptown Station is a multi-modal facility and will be home to the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System service, Amtrak, regional bus services as well as Normal government offices.

Hundreds of residents came to watch the grand-opening ceremony. Mayor Chris Koos, Durbin, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Amtrak Board Chairman Tom Carper all spoke to the large crowd in Uptown Circle.

Carper said 110 mile per hour trains will be in Normal in the future.

ISU President Al Bowman was present at Saturday’s grand opening, and he spoke about what Uptown Station means to the university. Bowman said Uptown station and developments in uptown Normal are assets to the university.

“[Uptown Station] helps the university recruit and it allows us to put a good front door to the campus,” Bowman said.

Bowman also said that Uptown Station will allow ISU’s large population of Chicago-area students to commute back and forth much easier.

Bowman said, “This will make transportation between Chicago and the university much more convenient for our students.”

The facility is state of the art. It is four floors, comprised of City Hall and government offices on the second, third and fourth floors. The first floor is an Amtrak station with waiting areas and a Subway will be installed in the future.

All the people that came to the ceremony were given the opportunity to tour the new station and tour a 40th anniversary Amtrak exhibit train.

The first trains will arrive on Sunday.

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Though media outlets are waiting for autopsy results on both of the ISU students’ bodies, administrators are commenting about resident hall policies regarding an event of this magnitude. Maureen Blair, Director of Student Housing, spoke about how the ISU Residential Hall staff is trained to handle residents in these particular situations.

“Resident assistants and staff are fully equipped to handle their residents when things like these happen,” said Blair. “In some cases, however, resident assistants just need to seek outside help.”

Student Counseling Services has been available since the two deaths occurred last night, and will continue to make their services known throughout the weekend.

“In the event of student deaths, we immediately notify Student Counseling Services,” said Blair. “Though students might prefer to talk about what they saw with their friends, sometimes a trained professional is better-equipped to deal with those emotions.”

Stay tuned to WZND for more information on this story.

Normal Fire Department responds to fire on Tuesday night at the Bone Student Center.

On Tuesday night at 9:45 pm, a student reported smoke coming from the Old Main room of the Bone Student Center. The building was evacuated by 10 pm and the fire was extinguished  by 11 pm.

The fire was said to have to started in Burger King and began to spread before the fire was put out by Normal Fire Department. Upon further investigation by the NFD, the origin of the fire was the exhaust hood in the kitchen of Burger King.  The second floor of the Bone Student Center sustained light smoke damage and moderate water damage from the fire being put out.

Jay Groves, Director of Media Relations,  released several statements in regards to the fire. He said that there was about 200 students in the building at the time of the fire.

Students said that there was no panic as they evacuated the building.

Matt Swaney, Normal Fire Department Spokesperson, said now that the fire is out, the fire department will be cleaning up for approximately an hour before turning further clean up over to Bone Student Center personnel.

The cause of the fire and estimations of the damage are still unknown.

This story will be updated.

NORMAL– The Illinois State Women’s basketball team took a 21-home game win streak into their contest Sunday afternoon against the Bradley Braves on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena.

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