Indiana State University Athletics

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State is returning home to the Hulman Center Tuesday evening as the Sycamores will play host to Missouri S&T with a 7 p.m. tipoff set. The game will air live on WIBQ 1230-AM and on The Valley on ESPN3.
 
The contest marks the Sycamores' return home after a 1-1 record at the Cancun Challenge, claiming the team's first win of the season with a 57-45 victory over Montana.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's contest will mark the first time that Indiana State and Missouri S&T will meet on the hardwood.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Ashley Taia led all players with 21 points but a hot-shooting Indiana State team turned cold in the final minutes as the Sycamores dropped a 71-59 decision to South Dakota at the Cancun Challenge Friday evening.
 
Indiana State (1-4) had a four-point lead at half over a South Dakota squad that is ranked 20th in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 poll and the Sycamores only trailed by one entering the fourth quarter.
 
While the 22 turnovers were a season-high, 10 of them came in the second quarter, the best shooting quarter of the four frames for the Sycamores. However the turnovers committed early and often in the game (15 turnovers committed in the first half) allowed South Dakota to keep within striking distance. In all, South Dakota tallied 18 points off Indiana State's 22 turnovers.
 
Then the Sycamores went cold, shooting only 25 percent (3 of 12) from the field in the final frame while the Coyotes (3-2) got hot by shooting 50 percent (6 of 12) in the frame. ISU finished the game shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from downtown.
 
LOOKING AT MISSOURI S&T
The Miners - a member of the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference - enter Tuesday's contest with a 4-2 mark with Indiana State marking their first competition against a Division I program this season. Missouri S&T is riding a two-game losing streak after racing out to a 4-0 start to the year, having dropped consecutive games to Union [Tenn.] (88-60) and Arkansas-Fort Smith (91-62) last week at the Drury Thanksgiving Classic in Springfield, Missouri.
 
TAIA BOW ON THAT SHOT
Talk about a success story from a long way away. Not only is Ashley Taia an Australian native that is one of Indiana State's starters, but she's finding success from downtown on the court. She enters Tuesday's game ranked 33rd in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, knocking down 50 percent (8-for-16) of her long-range shot attempts. 
 
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 last season with a season best 14 rebounds coming against Florida Atlantic. She scored in double-figures in 13 games last 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).
 
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.