INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. ? In a high noon shootout that would have made even Clint Eastwood proud, the Indiana State Sycamores used a late surge to reclaim a once lost advantage and sneak out of historic Hinkle Fieldhouse with a 66-63 victory over Butler in front of 653 fans.

ISU improved to 4-7 on the season, 3-4 on the road, while Butler fell to 4-6.

Due to the impending Christmas Holidays, the game tipped off at Noon (EDT), and it seemed as though that might be a little early for both squads as they came out of the gate somewhat sluggish. Butler was the first to make a surge as they used an early run to stake itself to a 22-15 lead with 10:52 showing on the clock.

“I didn't think we came out with much energy at all in the first half,” head coach Jim Wiedie said following the game. “We got them refocused on both ends of the floor and began to work the offense and got wide-open looks to fall for the rest of the half. I really liked our defensive energy in the final 10 minutes of both halves.”

Clearly not pleased with the momentum shift caused by the Butler spurt, Wiedie burned a timeout which helped his team regroup as he challenged them to play with more excitement and energy on both ends of the floor.

And boy, did they respond to his words. Following that timeout the Sycamores allowed just two field goals until intermission and used a 17-4 run to go in the locker room with a comforting 32-26 lead.

The game continued to sway back and forth during the second half with ISU taking a noticeable 53-48 lead with just over five minutes to play on a free throw by freshman Shannon Thomas. After back-to-back layups by Butler closed the gap to 53-52, Butler's Melanie Thornton connected on a free throw to knot the score at 53-all with 2:59 to go.

Butler battled the Sycamores tough on the ensuing possession, but freshman Deja Mattox stepped up and hit her second 3-pointer of the game with the shot clock set to expire to put the Sycamores ahead for good at 56-53 with 2:31 showing on the clock.

“That was a big 3-pointer at a key point in the game,” Wiedie commented. “We have continued to preach to the team the importance of shot selection and getting quality looks at the basket. The last ten minutes of the second half I thought we really worked the offense to our advantage and found the open look at just the right time.”

Mattox then was fouled after grabbing a defensive rebound on the other end of the floor and drilled a pair of free throws to extend the lead to five. After Butler's Burns hit a lay-up with 1:41 left to make it 58-55, Luna connected on a pair of free tosses to make it 60-55 with one minute to go.

Another defensive stop for the Sycamores with the five point lead gave Leah Phillips a chance to get into the free throw shooting act as she made it 62-55 with 41 seconds left. Bowen hit the first of her two 3-pointers in the final minute to trim the advantage down to 62-58 with 29 seconds left.

Luna converted two more free throws to tie her career high of 27 points and give ISU a 64-58 lead with 28 seconds left, but Bowen drilled a long 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to make it a 64-61 game.

A turnover and foul after a Butler timeout gave Tara Miller a pair of free throws with seven seconds on the clock to inch Butler to within 64-63, but the Sycamores got the ball into Leah Phillips who was fouled and hit a pair of free throws for the 66-63 lead.

Butler looked for Bowen out of a Sycamore timeout, and the Sycamores guarded successfully, forcing Bowen to drive inside the 3-point line and take an off balance jump shot as time expired to give the Sycamores another heart stopping victory on the road.

“It was a total team effort, everyone brought something onto the floor today,” Wiedie explained. “Luna exploited what Butler gave her and everyone made hustle plays that you have to get in order to win on the road.”

Luna connected on 6-of-10 shots from 3-point range to score a career-high tying 27 points. Leah Phillips continued to work her way out of a slump by hitting a trio of 3-pointers as she scored 13 and passed April Kirby for fifth place all-time in the ISU record books with 167 career 3-pointers. Luna's six 3-pointers give her 177 for her career, just three behind Hazel Olden for third place.

Mattox was key as well as she hit double figures scoring for the first time since the Arkansas State contest with 12 points, hitting an early 3-point basket and then one that was huge late in the second half.

Shannon Thomas also stepped it up off the bench with seven points and four rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

Overall, ISU shot 36.7 percent from the field, but was 11-of-26 from behind the 3-point line. Butler connected on 42.9 percent of their shots, and was 8-of-20 from the field. The game marked the first for Indiana State this season in which they were victorious without hitting at least 40 percent of their shots from the field or allowing the opponent a higher field goal percentage.

Indiana State continued its resurgent rebounding effort by tying the Bulldogs on the boards with 32 caroms each. The Sycamores forced 18 Butler turnovers and converted them into 19 points.

Butler was led in scoring by Bowen who finished with 18 points. No Butler starter reached double figures scoring in the game.

The Sycamores connected on 19-of-23 free throws while Butler was just 13-of-20. The Sycamores were a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe in the game's final two minutes to secure the victory.

With the victory, Indiana State secured a 2-1 record during a grueling stretch of three games in four days. The Sycamores downed Eastern Illinois on Friday night and then fell to nationally-ranked Kansas State two days ago.