NORMAL, Ill. (Interstat) — Nevaeh Thomas totaled 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, and Illinois State used a late fourth-quarter push to beat Green Bay 75-66 in a women’s NCAA Division I basketball game Wednesday at Redbird Arena. The Redbirds improved to 4-0. The Phoenix fell to 1-2. Attendance was 1,721.

Illinois State scored 75 points from 77 possessions and finished with an offensive rating of 96.9. Green Bay scored 66 points from 71 possessions and had an offensive rating of 92.5. The Redbirds shot 24 of 52 from the floor, 8 of 17 from 3-point range and 19 of 24 from the free-throw line. Green Bay shot 26 of 62 from the field, 8 of 23 from beyond the arc and 6 of 7 at the line. Green Bay had seven offensive rebounds, 12 assists and four blocks. Illinois State had five offensive rebounds and seven assists. The Phoenix committed 13 turnovers, while the Redbirds committed 19. Both teams scored 24 points in the paint. Green Bay held a 31-20 advantage in points off turnovers.

Thomas, a 5-foot-11 forward from Kenosha, Wisconsin, was Illinois State’s top performer. Maddy Skorupski led Green Bay with 24 points, two rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes. Elisa Mevius added 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists for the Phoenix in 37 minutes. Trista Fayta had 13 points, two rebounds, five assists and one block for Illinois State in 37 minutes. Danyella Mporokoso scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds in 32 minutes. Grace Nelson added 14 points and two rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. Jaeden Pratt contributed three points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. Hannah Chicken had six points, five rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes. For Green Bay, Jorey Buwalda scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in 23 minutes, while Kristina Ouimette added eight points, two rebounds, two assists and one block in 25 minutes.

Green Bay entered after a home win over Loyola Chicago and a road loss at Duke. Illinois State had opened the season with wins over Chicago State, Dayton and Augustana.

Illinois State opened with Thomas’s layup and jump shot, but Green Bay answered with Ouimette’s 3-pointer and Skorupski’s pullup jumper and free throws. Skorupski’s driving layup and Buwalda’s tip-in and hook shot helped the Phoenix later in the quarter. The Redbirds closed the first quarter on Nelson’s 3-pointer and led 22-15.

Green Bay erased the deficit in the second quarter behind Mevius, who made two 3-pointers and a pullup jumper. Skorupski’s layup and Ouimette’s turnaround jump shot also helped the Phoenix. Thomas made a layup for Illinois State, and Mporokoso hit a 3-pointer, but Green Bay outscored Illinois State 14-5 in the second quarter to take a 29-27 halftime lead after Mevius hit a pullup jumper with 38.4 seconds remaining.

The third quarter featured several ties and lead changes. Mporokoso made a pullup jumper to tie the score at 29, Buwalda answered with a layup, and Mporokoso hit a 3-pointer on the next possession. Thomas made a layup, but Green Bay’s Mckenna Johnson hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 34. Fayta made two free throws, Ady Ketterhagen made a layup, and Chicken made a layup as the teams traded baskets. Skorupski made a turnaround jumper, Fayta made a layup and free throw, and Maren Westin made a layup. Mporokoso’s 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left in the third quarter gave Illinois State a 48-46 lead.

Fayta opened the final quarter with a layup and free throw, and Nelson followed with a 3-pointer to push the Redbirds’ lead to 54-48. Skorupski answered with a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 54-52, but Thomas scored on a layup and free throw and added a tip-in to make it 59-52. Green Bay trimmed the lead to 59-55 on Buwalda’s three-point play, but Fayta converted a three-point play and hit a 3-pointer during a run that gave Illinois State a 63-55 cushion. Ouimette hit a 3-pointer for the Phoenix, but Chicken answered with a layup, Mporokoso made two free throws and Thomas added two free throws to extend the lead to 69-60. Skorupski made two late 3-pointers, including one with 16.6 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 74-66, but Nelson made a free throw to close the scoring. Illinois State outscored Green Bay 27-20 in the fourth quarter.

Illinois State is scheduled to visit Saint Louis on Saturday, while Green Bay hosts Wisconsin on Saturday. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Illinois State 71, Green Bay 69. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Green Bay with a 62.7 percent probability to win.