TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. According to Charles Dickens, that could describe a ?Tale of Two Cities," but for the Indiana State Sycamores against the Ball State Cardinals, it was a ?Tale of Two Halves,' as the Sycamores jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead, but had to withstand a late Cardinal charge to earn a 61-57 victory in front of 3,508 fans at Hulman Center.
The Sycamores improve to 5-2 on the season while Ball State fell to 3-6, dropping their fourth straight decision.
Indiana State jumped on the Cardinals right out of the gate, scoring each of the game's first 17 points. Sophomore Kelsey Luna put the Sycamores on the board with a 3-point field goal after nearly two minutes expired and she added the next ISU points on a pair of free throws. Leah Phillips got into the action next with a triple of her own for an 8-0 lead, and just for good measure sophomore post player Maria Olsthoorn stepped out and drained a trifecta herself for the 11-0 advantage.
Phillips put down another score from downtown and then followed with a lay-up and free throw for an old-fashioned 3-point play and the Sycamores led 17-0 with 14:01 left in the first half. Ball State's Porchia Green ended the Ball State drought with a lay-up at the 13:23 mark to put the Cardinals on the scoreboard, trailing 17-2.
The Cardinals chopped the Sycamore advantage down to 10 points at 22-12, but the Sycamores finished the final three minutes of the first half on a 15-3 run to enter the locker room with a 37-15 advantage. Annie Bankhead knocked down a lay-up with seven seconds left for the halftime margin of 22 points, which proved to be the largest lead of the game.
Ball State scored right out of the gate in the second half on a lay-up by Lisa Rusche, but Laura Rudolphi answered. Rusche came right back with a lay-up on the next possession, but Kara Schilli answered the score as well to give ISU a 41-19 lead with 18:02 left. After ISU forced a Ball State shot clock violation, the Sycamores appeared to have the game won easily, but the Cardinals kept creeping back into the game bit-by-bit.
Indiana State scored its 54th point of the game with 6:35 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Leah Phillips to take a 54-36 advantage, but a 9-3 run by Ball State made it 57-47 with just over two minutes left on the clock.
After the lead hit 12 points on a lay-up by Laura Rudolphi, Ball State used a pair of free throws by Green as well as an easy bucket by Rusche to make it 59-51 with just under a minute left.
With only four team fouls in the second half, Ball State was forced to foul Indiana State three times to put the Sycamores in the bonus. After Kyleigh Jones did that with 45 seconds left, Angela Phillips missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Green turned the ball over to keep the score the same with 32 seconds on the clock.
After a missed front end of the bonus by Leah Phillips, Angela Phillips committed a foul which allowed Green to pour in a pair of free throws to make it interesting; 59-53 with 23 seconds left.
Angela Phillips turned the ball over on the ensuing play and then Green laid the ball in the basket out to make the score 59-55 with 16 seconds left. Angela Phillips connected on one of two foul shot with 14 seconds left for a 60-55 lead, before Green layed it up again to make the score 60-57 with seven seconds left.
Phillips put a free throw in with five seconds left for a 61-57 lead and Kara Schilli secured an offensive rebound off a miss of the second free throw attempt to win the game as the buzzer sounded.
ISU put four players in double figures scoring, led by Kelsey Luna's 14. Joining her in double figures was Leah Phillips with 12 as well as Angela Phillips and Laura Rudolphi with 10 points each. ISU improved to a perfect 4-0 on the season with at least three players reach double figures scoring.
Rudolphi posted her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Olsthoorn posted eight rebounds to go with her six points off the bench.
The Sycamores connected on seven 3-point field goals in the first half, but hit only 3-of-9 in the second half as Ball State hit 3-of-5 from long range to out-score ISU by a 42-24 margin after the break. Despite the second half lapses, Indiana State led the game from wire to wire.
ISU plays the final home game of 2007 on Saturday, December 8 when they host No. 23 nationally-ranked Michigan State at Hulman Center. Tip-off is slated for 2:05 p.m. (EST) and all upper level tickets are on sale for just $1.
