TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State women's basketball plays host to Illinois-Springfield in its final exhibition tuneup Sunday at 2 p.m. inside the Hulman Center.
LOOKING AT ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD
Illinois-Springfield was picked third in the central division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Prairie Stars return their top-scorer from a year ago in Destiny Ramsey, who averaged 12.1 points per game. Shelbi Patterson, a three-year starter, also returns with her 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Indiana State men's and women's basketball tickets are available for purchase at
GoSycamores.com/tickets, by calling 812.237.3737 or by visiting the ISU Ticket Office daily between 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.
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.
