Preview: Belmont Bruins at Illinois State Redbirds NORMAL, Ill. (Interstat) — Two teams riding winning streaks will clash Friday night when the Belmont Bruins visit the Illinois State Redbirds in a key women’s NCAA Division I basketball matchup at Redbird Arena. The Bruins (16-9) have won four straight, including a dominant 77-37 victory over Valparaiso on Sunday. The Redbirds (14-10) have won three of their last four, coming off an 88-75 road win at Evansville. Belmont will lean on the hot hand of guard Jailyn Banks, who has averaged 18.5 points over her last four games. She scored 26 points in a win at Drake on Feb. 5 and posted 19 points, six rebounds and three assists in the recent rout of Valparaiso. Illinois State counters with its own versatile threat in Addison Martin. The forward is coming off a season-high 21-point, eight-rebound performance against Evansville and has been a consistent contributor on both ends of the floor. The Bruins won the season’s first meeting, 75-68, at home on Jan. 4. In that contest, Belmont used a balanced attack to overcome a 12-point performance from Illinois State’s Trista Fayta. Since that loss, the Redbirds have gone 7-3, bolstering their defense and finding more consistent scoring options behind Martin. Fayta leads the Missouri Valley Conference in assists and dished out 12 in the win over Evansville. Belmont’s recent surge has been fueled by defense, holding opponents to an average of 50.8 points during their four-game streak. Forward Sanaa Tripp provides a major interior presence, grabbing 15 rebounds in the last outing. For Illinois State, protecting home court is critical as they jockey for conference tournament positioning. They are 9-3 at Redbird Arena this season. Friday’s contest is the only scheduled meeting between the programs this regular season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CST.