Terre Haute, Ind. ? With eight new players on its 2008-09 roster, the Indiana State women's basketball team took the floor at the Hulman Center Saturday afternoon to give fans their first look at the freshman-dominated squad.  Emerging victorious 70-63, head women's basketball coach Jim Wiedie thought his team played well in their first showing.

“This was a typical exhibition game,” commented Wiedie.  “When you have several new faces, you never know how they are going to react in their first game out of the gate.  I thought there were a number of things we did well.  We were pretty active in the press and had a few players who stepped up and played extremely well.”

The Sycamores jumped out to a 9-0 lead five minutes into the first half with four of those points coming from junior guard Kelsey Luna who converted on a 3-pointer and a free throw.

The Indianapolis Greyhounds, a Division II team from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, came storming back to go on a 9-0 run of their own before Shannon Thomas went 1-for-2 at the free throw line after getting fouled on a drive to the basket.  The Greyhounds took their first lead of the game at 14:26 when freshman Cayla Keegan drained a 3-point basket to put the visitors up 12-10.

The Greyhounds went on to maintain the lead until the very end of the half.  Sycamore Kara Schilli intercepted a Greyhound pass and beat the rest of the players down the court for a break-away layup to pull her team within one at 31-30.  Freshman Deja Mattox stole the ensuing inbounds pass and converted the layup to put the Sycamores up 32-31 with about two minutes left in the half.

The Sycamores remained on top heading into halftime up 36-32 with Luna leading the way with 12 points.  Kelsie Cooley and Leah Phillips also contributed to the first-half scoring putting in seven and six points respectively.

The Greyhounds were led by Jessica Canary and Caroline Schutzman who scored six points apiece.  Nineteen of the Greyhounds 32 first-half points came from the bench.

Luna opened the second half by draining a three-point basket to ignite the Sycamore fans and put the home team up 39-32.  A few minutes later, Mattox drove to the basket, was fouled, and came through on the 3-point play. 

With just under eleven minutes remaining in the game, the score stood at 51-43 in favor of the Sycamores thanks to Mattox and Cooley who combined to score 10 of the Sycamores first 11 points.

Luna scored four straight on free-throw baskets with 8:53 to go in the game with her team still up 55-46.  A bucket in the paint by Shannon Thomas and a 3-point basket by Phillips gave the Sycamores their largest lead of the game at 60-48.

After an Indianapolis timeout, the Greyhounds converted on two straight lay-ups to pull themselves within eight.  However, Phillips answered back with her third 3-pointer of the game to put the home team back up by eleven. 

The Greyhounds weren't ready to back down yet as they scored back-to-back treys and hit two jumpers in a five-minute span to pull within four (66-62) with just over three minutes to go in the game.

The score remained 66-62 with 1:16 remaining on the clock and the ball in the Greyhounds hands.  After a Sycamore loose-ball foul, Keegan went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line to bring the visitors within three.

Shortly after, however, Luna hit the biggest shot of the game ? a three-point basket from the right wing with just 34 seconds remaining to put the Sycamores up by six, 69-63.

“It was nice to create a cushion for us, to be that person that did it,” said Luna.  “I'm just proud of our team for finding a way to win.  We are a group primarily made of freshmen so it's good to know we can dig down and find a way to win.”

The Greyhounds subsequent shot-attempt from in the paint by Canary fell short as Cooley pulled down the rebound and went to the free-throw line after a foul, going 1-for-2 to put the Sycamores up 70-63 for good.

A failed 3-point attempt by Canary again resulted in a Mattox rebound and an intentional foul being called.  Mattox could not connect on either free throw as the Sycamores emerged victorious by a final score of 70-63.

Luna led all players in scoring with 22 points, hitting 4-of-6 from behind the arc and going 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.  Mattox followed in scoring with 14 points, Cooley with 13, and Phillips with 12.  Schilli led the Sycamores in rebounding, grabbing seven boards.

As a team, the Sycamores shot 38.5% for the game including 32% from behind the arc.

The visiting Greyhounds received 35 bench-points.  Canary and Schutzman each had 14 points.  Schutzman went 4-for-5 from three-point range.  Indianapolis shot 52.4% from the field.

The Sycamores return to action next Saturday, November 8 when they host Missouri-St. Louis in the team's second and final exhibition game of the season. Tip-off at Hulman Center is set for 3:05 p.m. (EST).

Post Game Quotes:

Junior Guard Kelsey Luna

On first exhibition ...

“There are things we need to work on and clean up, but overall I think we did a decent job for our new girls and there are just some things we need to work on.”

On new teammates ...

“They came in this summer and fit right into our program with solid play.  Once they get the rules and rotations and plays down, and their learning curve starts to excel, we'll have a real good group to work with.”

Head Coach Jim Wiedie

Opening Comment ...

“Typical exhibition game.  When you have a lot of new faces, you never know how they are going to react in the first game out of the gate. There are a number of things we did well.  We were pretty active in the press, had a few players who stepped up and played extremely well. Deja Mattox had a good game in her debut. Overall, they found a way to pull it out and be successful.”

On difference in first half and second half with three point shots ...

“We were missing some rotations when we were playing zone. I thought we did a poor job of defending them off the dribble. They attacked us a little more than they have in the past. Once the press got going and we were able to create some turnovers and score on transition it made it a little easier.”

New players blending in ...

“We have eight new players.  Where they are at now versus where they were at in preseason, they made tremendous strides. For their first game out of the gate, they did a nice job. We need them to accelerate their learning curve a little bit faster.  They need to pick it up a little bit quicker and understand the intensity and pace of the game.”