Series Notes ? Indiana State and Central Michigan are meeting on the hardwood for the fifth time on Saturday afternoon. The Sycamores hold a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series, while the series is tied with each program owning one victory a piece in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. ISU took each of the first three meetings in the series, while Central Michigan was victorious on their home court in the previous meeting, a 67-49 Chippewa victory in 1989.
On The Air ? Saturday afternoon's tilt can be heard live on WSDM 92.7 FM in the Wabash Valley. Brent Holl will provide the play-by-play while Ace Hunt will provide color commentary. The game can also be heard live via the internet at crock927.com and GoSycamores.com.
About The Indiana State Coach ? Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie is in his ninth 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 141-92 at Indiana State, and today's contest represents his first career meeting with Central Michigan. Wiedie owns a 9-3 career mark against schools that hail from the Mid-American Conference.
About The Central Michigan Coach ? Central Michigan is led by second-year head coach Sue Guevara, who was 6-23 last season in her first year at the helm of the Chippewa program. Today's game represents her first meeting all-time against Indiana State. She is 129-105 in eight seasons as a collegiate head coach, having spent seven seasons as the head coach at Michigan.
Wiedie In Non-Conference Games ? The Sycamores have compiled a 47-23 record in regular season non-conference games under Jim Wiedie, including a 23-4 mark in regular season non-conference games played at Hulman Center.
Wiedie In Conference Games ? 2008-09 will mark the ninth conference season for Jim Wiedie at the helm of the Sycamores. In The Valley, Wiedie is 86-58, highlighted by his 16-2 championship season in 2005-06 as well as a pair of 13-5 finishes in 2002-03 (shared regular season title) and 2004-05. At Hulman Center, Wiedie is nearly unstoppable, boasting a 54-17 mark in regular season home MVC games, including three 8-1 seasons. In two of the past three seasons, Wiedie led the Sycamores to back-to-back eight win conference home records. Wiedie's 86 Missouri Valley Conference victories are the most conference triumphs by a Sycamore head coach, and are also the most by any active coach in the league. His 86 career MVC victories rank eighth all-time in Valley history. He needs two more Valley victories to tie Eastern Illinois' Barbara Hilke for seventh.
Sycamores In Lid-Lifting Games ? Heading into Saturday afternoon's contest at Central Michigan, the Indiana State Sycamores are 18-19 all-time in season lid-lifting contests. Under head coach, Jim Wiedie the Sycamores are 3-5 when tipping off a campaign. With Wiedie at the helm, the Sycamores have opened the season on the road four times and the Sycamores are 1-3 in those contests. That lone season opening victory on the road came in 2002-03 when the Sycamores downed MAC foe Akron by a score of 87-59.
TAG! You're It, No, You're It! ? Senior Leah Phillips and junior Kelsey Luna are both climbing the Sycamore record book in career 3-point field goals made. In fact, they are chasing each other for the fifth spot in the all-time standings with Phillips holding a four trey advantage over Luna heading into this weekend's season opener at Central Michigan. Phillips currently has 145 makes from long range, which is 21 behind former Sycamore April Kirby for fourth on the all-time list, while Luna stands at 141, just four behind Phillips for fifth place and only 25 behind Kirby for fourth. Last season, Luna made 62 3-pointers, which was ninth-best for a single-season.
Preseason Predictions ? The Indiana State Sycamores were picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference in a preseason poll of league media, head coaches and sports information directors. Last season, the Sycamores finished sixth and narrowly fell in the first round of the State Farm MVC Tournament by a score of 69-63 to No. 3 Drake.
Getting To The Point ? She may be in Indiana State's Top 10 for both 3-point field goals made as well as shooting percentage from long range, but junior Kelsey Luna is set to move to the point guard position this season after spending her first two years in the program as a shooter. Luna, who was a point guard in high school, told the Terre Haute Tribune Star earlier this week that she was, "returning to her roots" as her move allows Leah Phillips and Deja Mattox to see action in the starting lineup at the wing positions. In addition to her 141 career 3-point field goals, Luna has posted 81 assists over her first two seasons, including 50 during her freshman campaign.
Smart Investment In A Down Economy! Get A Program! ? There aren't many sure fire investments in the world today, but a couple of bucks on a game day program for an early season Indiana State women's basketball contest may be the best investment one can make in the short term. Fans will need the services of that program to identify all of the fresh faces on the roster this season. The Sycamores have seven student-athletes who will be participating in their first collegiate game on Saturday at Central Michigan, as Indiana State added eight players to its roster in the offseason. Freshmen Deja Mattox, Shannon Thomas, Brittany Schoen, Bianca Jarrett, Kayla Mullins, Megan Burton and Amanda Pedro are new to the team this year as well as sophomore Chelsea Buher, who transferred into the program from Illinois.
Sweet 16 ? Ninth-year Indiana State head coach enters the season with 141 career victories, needing just 16 more to catch Edith Godleski for the school record to become the school's all-time winningest coach by both total wins and percentage. Catching Godleski would be no small feat, as she will be inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame this winter. Godleski coaches the Sycamores for the first 11 seasons of the program from 1971-82.
Academic Run Continues ? For the seventh 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 third 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 3.59.
The Last Time Out ? Freshman Shannon Thomas connected on 7-of-8 shots from the field and added five more free throws en route to pacing Indiana State with 19 points as the Sycamores earned an easy exhibition victory over Missouri-St. Louis, 82-38, in front of 2,677 fans at Hulman Center.
"That was a total team effort," head coach Jim Wiedie stated. "It really didn't matter what combination of players we had on the floor, we were able to execute and score. I continue to be impressed with the play of our young players, especially with how well they played today on the defensive end."
Thomas burst onto the scene versus the Tritons after scoring four points last week in the exhibition opener against Indianapolis. This week was a different story for the freshman from Springboro, Ohio as she posted eight points in the first half and then connected on three of her field goal attempts after the break to lead ISU with 19 points.
"Shannon is really starting to pick things up well," Wiedie said. "I think our guards could get the ball inside to her even more. She is starting to show some really nice post moves, and is going to continue to get better as the season moves forward."
Joining Thomas in double figures was junior Kelsey Luna, who parlayed a pair of 3-pointers and a perfect 6-of-6 mark from the charity stripe to score 12 points. Luna added six assists and a pair of steals in the victorious effort.
Freshman Deja Mattox continued to impress with nine points and seven rebounds while junior Sarah Paul posted nine points as well in the victory.
Indiana State out-rebounded UMSL by a 41-37 margin while they were able to record 10 steals and forced 26 Triton turnovers. ISU scored 30 points off those miscues while ISU's 11 turnovers yielded just five points for UMSL.
"The coaches have told us over and over that Indiana State has not been the best rebounding team in the league over the years," Thomas stated. "We are making an extra effort to continue to improve in that area. Defensively, we played a pretty good game, but we hope to really build off this effort."
One week after scoring just seven points off the bench against Indianapolis, those same corps of subs scored 43 points this time.
The Sycamores were effective at the free throw line as well in the game, hitting 31-of-35 attempts from the free throw line. ISU hit 40 percent of their attempts from the field and connected on 7-of-24 attempts from behind the 3-point line.
For UMSL, the Tritons were led in scoring by Kristi White, who scored 10 points, hitting 4-of-11 shots from the field. The Tritons were held to a 28 percent shooting percentage, hitting 14-of-50 from the field and were kept in check with no 3-pointers in the second half. The Sycamores were able to force four different Triton shot clock violations during the game.
Up Next ? The Sycamores will lift the lid on the 2008-09 home campaign when they host Marquette on Wednesday, November 19 in the Indiana State women's basketball team's first ever game on the Nellie & John Wooden Court at Hulman Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. (EDT).
