VALPARAISO, Ind. ? Indiana State nearly overcame a hot-shooting first half from Butler in the opening game of the 2007 State Farm Hoosier Classic at Valparaiso, but the Bulldogs' 13-point halftime advantage proved to be to big of a hill to climb as ISU fell 83-70 to Butler on Saturday afternoon.

Indiana State fell to 4-2 on the season while Butler improved to 6-1. ISU fell to 6-2 all-time in the State Farm Hoosier Classic, losing just once to Valparaiso (2001) as well as once to Butler (today).

The Butler Bulldogs, who entered the game hitting only 31.3% of their shots from 3-point range, connected on 10-of-18 (55.6%) from downtown in the opening half to stake themselves to a 45-33 lead at the break. On the flip side, Indiana State hit just 2-of-9 3-point attempts in the opening stanza, while putting down 42.9% of their shots from the field.

While Butler cooled considerably from long range in the second half, going 0-of-4 from 3-point territory, the Sycamores gave up 12 second chance points off of 14 Butler offensive rebounds and were not able to completely climb their way back into the contest.

The Sycamores made their greatest stand of the game in the second half when they trailed 57-42 with 14:29 left in the game. ISU rattled off four consecutive points on free throws by Heather Seyfred and Laurence Rivest. After a bucket by the Bulldogs, Indiana State's Angela Phillips connected on a 3-pointer with 11:52 left to make it 59-49 and then she laid the ball up in transition to cut the lead down to 59-51.

Indiana State further cut into the advantage on a steal and break-away lay-up by Laura Rudolphi to make it 59-53 with 10:58 left, but the Sycamores could get not closer and Butler stretched the lead to as many as 20 points over the final six minutes of the game in emerging victorious, 83-70.

ISU was paced in scoring by Rudolphi, who scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field as well as a 4-of-4 effort from the charity stripe. She added eight rebounds as well as a career-best five blocked shots in the game. Rudolphi now has 114 career blocked shots, an ISU record.

Angela Phillips, coming off a 33-point effort at Eastern Illinois earlier in the week, scored 14 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Kelsey Luna added seven points as well as seven rebounds to the effort.

For the game, Indiana State hit 43.9% of their shots while Butler stroked 43.1% of its attempts through the bucket. Butler out-rebounded the Sycamores by a 43-36 margin.

The Sycamores were 5-of-20 from the 3-point line in the game. Butler finished 10-of-22.

The Bulldogs were paced with 20 points from Lade Akande, who hit 9-of-18 shots from the field. The Bulldogs had two players, Susan Lester with 16 points and 10 rebounds as well as Candace Jones with 14 points and 10 rebounds, post double-doubles.

Indiana State returns to action on Thursday, December 6 when they host Ball State at Hulman Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. (ET). All upper bowl tickets for the game against the Cardinals are just $1.