MILWAUKEE ? After hitting just a pair of 3-point field goals in the first half of Saturday evening's (Dec. 15) women's college basketball game at Marquette, the Indiana State Sycamores stroked seven from long range in the second half, but fell to the Golden Eagles by a score of 83-79 in front of 1,334 fans at the Al McGuire Center.
Angela Phillips tied for the team lead with 20 points as Laura Rudolphi likewise posted that many points as well in defeat. Phillips connected on four of Indiana State's nine 3-pointers in the game while Rudolphi was 6-of-13 from the field, plus was 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
ISU trailed by four points with just under 50 seconds left when Rudolphi hit a pair of free throws to trim the Marquette lead down to just two points, 81-79. The Sycamores forced Marquette into a tough shot by Angel Robinson, a fade-away on the baseline, by the Golden Eagles came out of the scrum with the offensive board, forcing ISU to foul Marquette's Krystal Ellis.
Ellis went on to knock down both free throws for the 83-79 lead and ISU raced down the floor and Angela Phillips apparently hit a shot on the baseline to cut the lead down to just two points, but was whistled instead for an offensive foul. Marquette was able to get the ball in-bounds and the clock expired.
In addition to Rudolphi's and Phillips' 20-point games, sophomore Maria Olsthoorn reached double figures for the second consecutive game with 10 points.
Overall, Indiana State hit 22-of-28 free throws, while allowing Marquette to reach the foul line just 15 times, limiting them to only seven makes. The Golden Eagles hit just 4-of-14 attempts from behind the 3-point line, while ISU stroked 9-of-20 from downtown, for a blazing 42.1%.
Marquette out-rebounded Indiana State by a 39-36 margin, while they held a slim 23-21 advantage in second chance points.
ISU fell behind 18-7 in the first six minutes of the game, but battled all the way back to trail just 40-36 at the half on a last second lay-up by junior Kara Schilli.
The Sycamores hit each of their first three shots from long range in the second half, briefly taking a 48-44 lead with 12 minutes to go. Marquette, who has received votes in the national Top 25 polls all season long, responded with an 8-0 run and never looked back.
After taking the lead, Marquette led by as many as 76-67, but ISU battled back to as close as two points in the final two minutes before falling to the Golden Eagles. Leah Phillips was a perfect 3-of-3 from long range in the second half to score nine points.
The Sycamores return to action on Friday, December 28 when they travel to Arkansas State for the final non-conference game of the season. Tip-off is slated for 8:05 p.m. (ET).
