TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State women's basketball hits the road for the first time this season with a short trek to Indianapolis to faceoff with IUPUI Friday night. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET from The Jungle. The game can be seen live on The Valley On ESPN3. Garrett Short will also have the call on WIBQ 1230 AM in the Wabash Valley.
LOOKING AT IUPUI
The Jags are off to a 2-0 start with wins over Northern Iowa and Georgetown (Ky.). IUPUI is averaging 69.5 points per game and holding their opponents to just 50 points and 33.7 percent shooting from the field. Sydney Hall leads the way for the Jags with 14.5 points to go along with 3.5 rebounds and two assists per game. The Jags have two players with seven rebounds a game in Taylor Darke and Macee Williams.
SERIES HISTORY
Indiana State leads the all-time series with IUPUI, 11-4. In a series that began in back in 1973, the Sycamores reeled off 10-straight wins until IUPUI broke into the win column during the 2012 season. Since 2012, the Jags have a 1-1 record against the Sycamores. ISU fell to the Jaguars in Terre Haute a year ago, 45-35.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR SEASON
Sycamore senior
Wendi Bibbins earned the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year award for her play in 2016-17. The Harvey, Louisiana product averaged 10.2 points and 8.3 rebounds, leading the Sycamores in scoring in 10 games this season including a career high 23 points at Illinois State (2/3).
Along with her scoring output, the forward grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 10 games this season with a season best 14 rebounds coming against Florida Atlantic. She scored in double-figures in 13 games this season for the Sycamores.
Bibbins ranked second in the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding and had a team high five double-doubles. Bibbins took home the Valley's Newcomer of the Week honor two times this season, en route to becoming the fourth Sycamore to win Newcomer of the Year honors, joining Amy Amstutz (1997), Ashley Clark (2005) and Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir (2014).
SCORING LEADER
Senior guard
Ashley Taia was named to the Missouri Valley Conference honorable mention team to close out 2016-17. Taia put together a stellar junior campaign, leading the Sycamores with 12.1 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds and a team-high 60 steals. She shot nearly 30 percent from 3-point range and scored her 500th point during conference play. Taia started in all 30 games last season, reaching double-figure scoring in 20 of those games while ranking 10th in the league in scoring. She scored 20 or more points in three games including career-high 26 in the win at Southern Illinois on New Year's Day.
Taia scored a game-high 22 points against the Billikens on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from downtown. The Brisbane, Australia native was aggressive throughout, getting to the free throw line eight times and converting seven for the Sycamores. She added two rebounds, a pair of assists and a steal to her stat line in 36 minutes of action.
THREE FOR 54
The trio of
Ashley Taia,
Wendi Bibbins and
Tierra Webb accounted for over half of the program's offensive production from a year ago. The three players combined for 30 point or 54.4 percent of the teams' offense.
DEFENSE AS USUAL
Indiana State started where they left off as the team opened against SLU Friday night. ISU held the Billikens who were tabbed second in the A10 to just 37.7 percent from the field and just 4-for-16 from behind the arc. ISU also recorded a pair of blocks and six steals as they turned SLU over 16 times in the game.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana State women's basketball fell in its regular season opener, 60-59, to Saint Louis inside the Hulman Center. The Sycamores were led by
Ashley Taia who scored 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-4 from downtown.
Indiana State trailed at halftime 32-31 after SLU connected on a pair of free throws with under two seconds left to play in the first half. That was the difference as the Trees kept things even as both squads tallied 28 points in the final 20 minutes.
Tied at 43 to open the fourth quarter, SLU used a 7-0 run to gain the edge and held the Sycamores scoreless until the 6:04 mark when
Wendi Bibbins connected on a 15-foot jumper to end the drought. Paige Rakers put the Billikens on top seven with a layup with 5:33 left.
The Sycamores took advantage of four straight misses at the charity stripe in the final minutes to keep it close. Junior
Regan Wentland drained a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to play to make it 57-54 in favor of the road team.
The Billikens connected on 1-of-2 free throws before
Wendi Bibbins made it a two-point game with a putback layup with 11 seconds left. Jackie Kemph nailed a pair of free throws and they would be big ones as Taia dropped a triple with two seconds left to play but ISU could not foul to extend the game.
SYCAMORES PICKED FIFTH
The Indiana State women's basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference's annual preseason poll. The Drake Bulldogs were picked to win the league after picking up 31 of the 40 total first-place votes followed by Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois to round out the top four. Bradley was selected sixth followed by the Illinois State, Evansville, Valparaiso and Loyola to round out the poll.
HALF OLD - HALF NEW
Fourth-year head coach
Joey Wells returns three starters from last year's squad, including MVC Newcomer of the Year
Wendi Bibbins (10.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg), Honorable Mention guard
Ashley Taia (12.1 ppg) and
Tierra Webb (7.7 ppg) who started all 30 games. In total, the Sycamores return seven letterwinners from last season's 12-18 squad including
Regan Wentland (3.9 ppg),
Maryam Wilcher (2.0 ppg),
Ashli O'Neal (4.5 ppg) and
Freja Christensen (0.8 ppg).
Indiana State added seven new faces to their roster, including three freshmen (Ty Battle, Krystal Rice and AJ Thomas), and four junior college transfers in Kendra Boone, Alexis Delgado, Kierra Isaiah and Maeva Kitantou.
OOKING FORWARD
Indiana State travels for the first time this season Friday to IUPUI before returning home for a return game against Florida Atlantic Monday. The team will then spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Mexico for the Cancun Challenge where the Sycamores will face a tough South Dakota squad and Montana. ISU will play five of their next seven games away from the Hulman Center.
HOOPS IN THE HEARTLAND
The 2017-18 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament will return to the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill., for the third season with the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau. Affectionately coined "Hoops in the Heartland," the four-day event (Mar. 8-11) will showcase all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools as they compete for the Valley's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
RADIO SHOW
Head coach
Joey Wells will join play-by-play voice
Brian Fritz every Monday at 6:30 p.m. live from 7th & Elm Bar & Grill in Terre Haute. The show will air live on 97.9 FM – WIBQ in the Wabash Valley.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram.
