TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Indiana State held a 37-28 halftime lead over the visiting Creighton Bluejays by hitting over 40% of their shots in the first half, but the Bluejays held the Sycamores to just 20.8% shooting after intermission to take a 68-60 road victory over ISU in front of 2,558 fans at Hulman Center.
The Sycamores fell to 9-9, 3-5 MVC while Creighton improved to 12-7, 5-3 MVC.
"I can't figure this team out," head coach Jim Wiedie said afterwards. "It is so frustrating to play as well as we did in the first half and then come out and give up 40 points in the second half. We had enough of a lead at the half that 23 points in the second half should have been enough to win. But the problem was we let our offense effect our defensive intensity."
Indiana State came out of the gates by getting back-to-back baskets from sophomore Maria Olsthoorn in racing out to a 4-3 lead in the game's first minute.
Creighton led by as many as three points early on, 12-9, with 15:53 showing on the clock before the Sycamores embarked on a 9-0 spurt to stake themselves to an 18-12 lead over the next three minutes of action. ISU got a 3-pointer in transition from senior Angela Phillips while a Kara Schilli jumper put the lead at six.
The Bluejays fought back and got the lead down to just one point, 22-21 on a lay-up with 7:29 left in the half, but the Sycamores put together a 7-0 run on four free throws and another Angela Phillips 3-pointer to take a 29-21 advantage.
A free throw by Annie Bankhead with 1:49 left gave the Sycamores a 12-point lead with 1:49 left at 35-23, and then a Laura Rudolphi jumper with just a minute before the break pushed the ISU lead up to 37-25. Creighton's Ally Thrall scored the half's final three points to make it 37-28 at the break.
Creighton's run would continue after intermission as they scored the first 11 points out of the second half gate as the Sycamores missed each of their first six shots while the Bluejays took a 39-37 lead with 13:51 left in the game. Freshman Kelsey Woodard stroked back-to-back 3-pointers to open the half which sparked the Bluejays run.
A free throw by Leah Phillips with 13:29 showing on the clock was the Sycamores' first point of the second half.
After the Sycamores were able to get two free throws to fall for Olsthoorn to get within a point at 41-40, Creighton's Sam Schuett connected on a triple from the left corner to make it 44-40 with 12:37 left. Another 3-point by Schuett on Creighton's next possession pushed the lead up to 47-40.
Following a Rudolphi jump shot to make it 47-42, Schuett continued her strong second half with a pair of free throws to make it 49-42 with 11:10 to go. ISU went on a small 5-0 run over the next three minutes with a 3-pointer by Kelsey Luna and a lay-up by Rudolphi to make it 49-47 with just under nine minutes to go.
Creighton punched right back with an 8-0 run to take a 57-47 lead with over seven minutes to go and Schuett connected on another pair of free throws for a 61-50 lead with 5:30 to go. Angela Phillips answered with a 3-pointer to get within eight points, but it would be as close as the Sycamores would get until the final horn sounded.
The Bluejay advantage was stretched to a high of 13 points, and a traditional 3-point play by senior Anne Thatcher with 31 seconds left in the game rendered the final score of 68-60.
The game was eerily reminiscent of last year's State Farm MVC Tournament quarterfinal game in which the Sycamores took a 15-point lead at halftime against Creighton, stretched it to a high of 19 points and then the Bluejays ended up with a 69-65 victory.
The Sycamores have led at the half in each of its last four games and have dropped all but one. ISU held on to its 13-point halftime lead last week at Missouri State to earn its first MVC road victory. ISU dropped its halftime advantage against Creighton in taking its first Valley home defeat of the season.
Creighton put four scorers in double figures on the evening, paced by 20 points from Woodard. Kristina Voss recorded 13 points to go along with her game-high 15 rebounds while Ally Thrall also posted 13 points and Schuette scored 10, all in the second half.
Angela Phillips led the Sycamores with 12 points while Maria Olsthoorn added 11. Laura Rudolphi was held to eight points, breaking a string of nine consecutive contests in which she had posted at least 10 points.
The Sycamores did make 21-of-27 free throws in the game, but Creighton held a 44-32 advantage on the boards. The ?Jays were able to convert 16 offensive rebounds into a total of 15 second chance points.
Creighton scored 40 points in the second half, hitting seven 3-pointers after the break, while ISU hit just twice from long range in the second half and made only five field goals. The Sycamores hit just 20.8% of their shots after the break, while they stroked 41.4% in the opening stanza.
The Sycamores have to regroup quickly as the host the Drake Bulldogs on Saturday, February 2 at Hulman Center. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m. (EST). All tickets to the game are free, courtesy of SERVPRO. The Bulldogs dropped a narrow 88-84 overtime decision at league-leading Illinois State tonight.
