Women's Basketball December 05, 2007 ISU Athletics

Indiana State Returns Home To Face Ball State

The Basics -- One of the great rivalries in all of the state of Indiana and women's basketball renews itself on Thursday evening when the Indiana State Sycamores and Ball State Cardinals lock horns at Hulman Center. ISU has won each of the last meetings against BSU, and hold a 20-7 lead in the all-time series. ISU is home for the first time since November 14. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 pm (EST).

Series Notes - Indiana State holds a solid 20-7 lead in the all-time series against Ball State, including a 13-1 mark in games played in Terre Haute, Ind. ISU has won each of the past two meetings in the series, including a 76-42 victory at Hulman Center in 2004.

On The Air - Thursday night's game against Ball State is available via several different avenues. Fans in Terre Haute can tune in live to the game on WISU-FM (89.7) as the student station describes all the action over the airwaves. For those out of the local listening area, a free audio webcast will be made available on GoSycamores.com. In addition, the Ball State game will be available on a pay-per-view basis on Sycamore Vision as part of GoSycamores.com. The cost of the game is $4.95.

About The Indiana State Coach - Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie is in his eighth year at the helm of the Sycamore women's basketball program. The 2003 and 2006 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Wiedie led the Sycamores to the conference's outright regular season championship in 2006 and has guided ISU into the postseason in three of the last five years. He is 131-79 at Indiana State, and is 3-1 against Ball State. Wiedie's first collegiate victory in 2000 came against Ball State at Hulman Center.

About The Ball State Coach - Ball State is led by seventh-year head coach Tracy Roller. She is 118-71 at the Muncie, Ind., school. Roller has compiled a 1-2 record against Indiana State as a head coach.

Wiedie In Non-Conference Games - The Sycamores have compiled a 45-21 record in regular season non-conference games under Jim Wiedie, including a 22-3 mark in regular season non-conference games played at Hulman Center.

Is It Larry, No It's Angela! - Thursday night's performance by senior guard Angela Phillips drummed up memories of Indiana State's most famous alum, Larry Bird, if for no other reason than the point total she amassed. She matched Larry Legend's retired jersey number of ?33' by hitting 9-of-13 shots from the field, including a mark of 5-for-8 from behind the 3-point arc. It did not end there as Phillips also connected on a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line to tally her career-best 33 points. Her 33 points tie her for ninth on the all-time list for single-game point production and it is the most points by a Sycamore since Melanie Boeglin poured in a school-record 46 points at Drake on January 26, 2006. Phillips became the first 30-point scorer for the Sycamores since Rachel Maenpaa scored 32 points in last season's regular season finale at Drake.

Phillips 66 - Senior guard Angela Phillips averaged 23.5 points and was a perfect 12-of-12 at the free throw line this week as the Indiana State Sycamores split a pair of games against Eastern Illinois and Butler. Phillips began the week with a bang by scoring a career-high 33 points, hitting five 3-pointers in the process, as the Sycamores earned their first road victory of the season at Eastern Illinois. Her 33 points were the most by a Sycamore in nearly two seasons. She followed that effort up with 14 points against Butler. Phillips was on fire from the field during the week., hitting 14-of-22 shots (63.6%) and was just as hot from downtown, connecting on 7-of-11 3-point field goals. Phillips added a pair of rebounds as well as seven assists and three steals this week.

Free Throw Fun - Coming on the heals of ISU's 15-of-19 performance at the free throw line against Butler, the Sycamores have now hit 138-of-177 attempts at the charity stripe so far this season, for a blazing 78.0%. In fact, ISU has made 138 free throws through six games this season, while opponents have attempted just 120. ISU's opponents are hitting on 50% of their free throws against the Sycamores, going 60-of-120 at the charity stripe.

Career Records Watch - Indiana State senior center Laura Rudolphi now has 114 career blocked shots, which is an Indiana State record and ranks her 13th all-time in the Missouri Valley. Her career field goal percentage of .535 is also the best in the history of the program. For sophomore Kelsey Luna, her career 3-point field percentage of .443 is tops in the history of the program. Luna's 94 career 3-pointers are 10th-best in school history while Leah Phillips' 110 trifectas are seventh-best.

Triple Double Trouble - Through six games this season, the Indiana State Sycamores have placed three players in double figures scoring a total of three times, most recently against Eastern Illinois. ISU is a perfect 3-0 in games in which they have three players reach double figures. In fact, ISU has three players which average double figures scoring per game, led by Angela Phillips, who is averaging 16.2 points per game. Laura Rudolphi is right behind her at 15.5 ppg while Kelsey Luna has posted 12.8 ppg through the first six games. Overall, Indiana State is averaging 74.5 points per game.

Downing A Ranked Opponent - Indiana State moved to 2-11 all-time against nationally-ranked teams by beating No. 17 Vanderbilt, 77-72, in overtime last week at Hulman Center. Vanderbilt, at No. 17 , marked the highest ranked opponent to ever fall against Indiana State. It was the first time the Sycamores beat a ranked opponent since 1998 and the first time a member of the Missouri Valley Conference pulled that feat since the 2002-03 campaign.
Lid Lifting Victory - With its 89-55 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the home season opening game on November 11, the Indiana State Sycamores have now won each of their last two season openers, which have come at home. ISU downed Chattanooga in 2005 as part of the Preseason WNIT at Hulman Center. The Sycamores have not lost a season opener at home since falling to Xavier in the home season lid-lifter at the start of the 2001-02 season. In regular season, non-conference home games the Sycamores are 22-3 under eighth-year head coach Jim Wiedie.

Preseason Predictions - The Indiana State Sycamores were picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference as announced at the league's annual Media Day in St. Louis. In addition, senior center Laura Rudolphi was one of five athletes named a Preseason All-MVC selection.

Academic Run Continues - For the sixth consecutive season, the Indiana State women's basketball program was noted for its high academic achievements under head coach Jim Wiedie. The Sycamore women's basketball team finished ranked 13th in the most recent Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NCAA Division I in team grade point average with a stellar mark of 3.398.

The Last Time Out - 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.

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.

The Last Time Versus Ball State - The Indiana State women's basketball team led by one point at halftime (29-28), but held Ball State to just 14 second half points to notch a 76-42 victory in front of 2,191 at Hulman Center Saturday afternoon in the second game of the State Farm Women's Basketball Classic. ISU improves to 3-1 on the season, while Ball State drops to 2-4.

Sycamore forward Ashley Clark led all scorers with 20 points. The Cincinnati, Ohio native hit 8-of-12 from the floor and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw stripe. Junior guard Melanie Boeglin added 19 points and sophomore forward Anne Thatcher tied a career high for three-pointers made by going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Forward Kate Endress led Ball State with nine points. Endress shot 4-of-17 from the floor and pitched in 10 rebounds. Forward Raechelle Hampton and center Krista Stewart each added six points in the losing effort for the Cardinals.

After a closely contested first half between both teams, ISU used a great defensive effort to hold the Cardinals to just 16.7 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes. During a 10:10 span in the middle of the half, the Sycamores used a 33-2 run, a span that saw Ball State miss 13 consecutive field goal attempts.

The Ball State Series Results
Date Score Result Location
12/04/04 W 76-42 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/06/03 W 65-53 Valparaiso, Ind.
03/21/03 L (OT) 87-91 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/09/00 W 80-73 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/05/96 W 78-68 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/06/95 W 79-68 Muncie, Ind.
12/29/90 W 78-69 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/07/89 L 71-72 Muncie, Ind.
12/10/85 L 64-83 Muncie, Ind.
12/07/84 W 63-55 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/07/83 L 56-61 Muncie, Ind.
12/07/82 W 84-66 Terre Haute, Ind.
03/05/82 L 51-71 Neutral Court
02/02/82 L 54-63 Muncie, Ind.
01/21/81 W 72-57 Terre Haute, Ind.
03/01/80 W 80-76 Terre Haute, Ind.
02/12/80 W 75-67 Muncie, Ind.
12/01/79 W 79-72 Neutral Court
02/13/79 W. 96-75 Terre Haute, Ind.
12/01/78 W 76-59 West Lafayette, Ind.
03/04/78 W 82-57 Indianapolis, Ind.
02/14/78 L 71-73 Muncie, Ind.
01/17/77 W 67-54 Terre Haute, Ind.
03/05/76 W 76-68 Terre Haute, Ind.
01/14/76 W 74-65 Terre Haute, Ind.
02/28/75 W 60-43 Valparaiso, Ind.
01/18/75 W 74-65 Terre Haute, Ind.

Up Next - Indiana State faces off against No. 23 nationally-ranked Michigan State on Saturday, December 8 at Hulman Center. The Spartans are the second ranked team to visit the Sycamores this season as No. 17 Vanderbilt fell to Indiana State last month. Tip-off is slated for 2:05 p.m. (EST). All tickets are available for $1.

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