The Basics ? The Indiana State Sycamores hit the road on Thursday night
looking for their third Missouri Valley Conference victory away from Hulman
Center as well as their first season series sweep when they take on Evansville.
The Sycamores are currently in a tie for fourth place in the MVC standings with
Bradley and need a victory to rebound from a home loss on Saturday against
Missouri State.
Evansville Series Notes ? Indiana State leads the all-time series by a
21-12 count over Evansville. The Purple Aces hold an 8-7 advantage against the
Sycamores in games played in Evansville. UE has won each of the past two games
played between the two teams at Roberts Stadium. The Sycamores earned a 66-59
victory over the Purple Aces earlier this season at Hulman Center. ISU is
looking for its first season series sweep of Evansville since the 2005-06
campaign.
On The Air ? Thursday night's game can be seen live in the Wabash Valley on
WTWO NewsChannel 2. Jason Pensky (play-by-play) and Ace Hunt (color analysis)
will call the action. The game can be heard live on WSDM 92.7 FM in the Wabash
Valley. Brent Holl calls the action while Vaso Michels provides color
commentary. The game can also be heard live via the internet at crock927.com and
GoSycamores.com. The Jim Wiedie Coaches' Show airs on Tuesday nights with the
next broadcast coming on February 24 live on ESPN Radio 1300 AM at 6:30
p.m.
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 153-103 at
Indiana State and is 12-6 versus the Purple Aces. Wiedie owns a 4-4 record
against Evansville on the road. Wiedie possesses 94 career league wins which is
seventh-most in the history of The Valley. With the Sycamores' 63-37 victory
over Southern Illinois on January 22, Wiedie became just the second coach in the
history of the program to record at least 150 career victories. He needs just
five more victories to break the school record for career coaching
victories.
About The Evansville Coach ? Evansville is led by first-year head coach
Misty Murphy, who is 9-15 at the Southern Indiana school. Murphy owns a career
record of 117-80 and is 0-1 all-time against Indiana State. She has never faced
the Sycamores at Roberts Stadium.
Wiedie In Conference Games ? 2008-09 marks the ninth conference season for
Jim Wiedie at the helm of the Sycamores. In The Valley, Wiedie is 94-62,
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 60-18 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 94
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 94 career MVC victories rank seventh all-time in Valley history. He is now
15 MVC victories away from tying long-time Creighton head coach Connie Yori for
sixth place.
Wiedie In Non-Conference Games ? The Sycamores have compiled a 51-30 record
in regular season non-conference games under Jim Wiedie, including a 24-7 mark
in regular season non-conference games played at Hulman Center.
Quick Hits ? The Sycamores have trailed at the half in 14 of their 21
games this season, winning a school record four such contests ... ISU is 8-0
when leading at the half ... Indiana State is 4-1 this season in games decided
by five points or less ... Kara Schilli became the 14th member of the school's
500 rebound club against Wichita State ... The Sycamores have lost four players
to knee injuries this season (Laurence Rivest, Leah Phillips, Deja Mattox and
Kelsey Luna) ... The Sycamores are a perfect 4-0 this season when scoring
between 70 and 79 points.
Losing Some Serious Firepower ? The Sycamores have been bitten hard by the
injury bug and it began in the preseason when projected junior starter Lawrence
Rivest suffered a torn ACL. The next domino fell on New Year's Day in the MVC
opener against Drake when senior starter Leah Phillips went down with an ACL
injury. The bad luck continued on January 22 when freshman starter Deja Mattox
suffered an ACL tear against Southern Illinois. ISU then lost its leading
scorer, and third leading scorer in the MVC, Kelsey Luna to an ACL tear on
February 12 against Wichita State. All told, of ISU's 1,374 points scored this
season, the Sycamores have lost 590 of them to injury, or 42.9 percent of their
offensive punch. In fact, the Sycamores have lost three of their top four
leading scorers this season to injury, leaving sophomore Kelsie Cooley's 8.5 ppg
as the Sycamores' top active leading scoring mark.
No Schoen In That ? Freshman guard Brittany Schoen set a career-high with
13 points against Wichita State and then tied that mark two days later against
Missouri State as the Sycamores earned a weekend home series split versus the
Shockers and Lady Bears. Schoen finished the week by hitting 8-of-20 shots from
the field (40 percent) and was even more accurate from the 3-point line, hitting
7-of-17 (41.2 percent) over the weekend. She was also 3-of-4 from the free throw
line (75 percent) and averaged 4.0 rebounds per game.
Streak Busted ? Another effect of the Sycamores' injury situation occurred
on February 14 when the Sycamores, still reeling from the loss of leading scorer
Kelsey Luna just 48 hours earlier, dropped a rare home MVC contest to Missouri
State. The Lady Bears victory over ISU was the first home league loss for the
Sycamores since losing to Illinois State on February 15, 2008. The ISU home
winning streak in Valley play lasted 355 days (one day short of a full calendar
year) and covered 10 games. The school record for Valley home victories in a row
is 14, set during the 04-05 & 05-06 seasons.
Scoring Against The Shockers ? Senior forward Kara Schilli paced four
Sycamores in double figures scoring as she hit a career high seven field goals
to post 16 points against Wichita State. Schiili was joined in double figures by
freshman Bianca Jarrett, who had 15 points while freshman Brittany Schoen scored
a career-best 13 points. Sophomore Kelsie Cooley added 10 points as well.
Welcome To The Club ? Kara Schiili added eight rebounds along with her 16
points against Wichita State to push her over the 500 career rebounds mark. She
is the 14th member of the ISU's 500 rebound club. Schilli now needs just seven
points to reach the 500 career points scored mark as well.
The Fresh Faces Making An Impact! ? Indiana State's roster features seven
freshmen this season and they are making an immediate impact on the Sycamore
women's basketball program. Paced now by Bianca Jarrett, who is averaging 10.3
points as well as 3.7 rebounds per MVC game, the freshmen have accounted for 577
of ISU's 1374 total points scored, or 41.9 percent. In ISU's MVC games the
Sycamore freshmen have accounted for 356 of a total of 699 points scored, or
50.9 percent.
Gettin To The Stripe? The Indiana State Sycamores are parading to the free
throw line this year as they have made 119 more trips to the charity stripe (414
to 295) than their opponents. In fact, ISU has made 287 free throws this season
while their opponents have attempted jut 295. In MVC play, the Sycamores have
made 125 more trips to the line in 12 games (an average of 10.4 per game) and
have made 164 free throws while the opponents have only attempted 115.
High Five! ? Ninth-year Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie enters
Thursday's contest against Evansville with 153 career victories, needing just
four more to catch Edith Godleski and tie 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 was inducted earlier this year into the
Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame.
Come On In! Sit A Spell! ? Indiana State is averaging 4,066 fans per home
game this season at Hulman Center thanks in large part to SERVPRO Fan
Appreciation Day On January 10 when 10,200 tickets were distributed to the
Illinois State game. ISU's 4,066 fans per home game ranks second-best in the
league behind Missouri State and is 22nd nationally.
Not A”Paul”ling At All ? Indiana State junior guard Sarah Paul continues to
perform admirably as her playing time has increased this season due to the rash
of injuries to team starters. Paul played in a career-high 30 minutes against
Wichita State, scoring three points while pulling down four rebounds and tying a
career-best with five assists.
Look Who's Held Teams Under 40! Twice! ? Indiana State limited Southern
Illinois to 37 points on 01/22/09, the second time this season that the
Sycamores have limited a conference foe to fewer than 40 points (Drake, 38). No
other MVC team has held an opponent below 40 points. In fact, the 37 points
allowed are one of the all-time best marks in league history. There have been 20
all-time Gateway/Missouri Valley contests in which a team has been held to less
than 40 points scored. The Sycamore defense has recorded two of those this
season.
Fewest points allowed (MVC games only; <40 points only)
All-Time
Valley Rank, Team points allowed, opponent (date)
1. UNI 30 v. Wichita State
(1/19/08)
T4. Indiana State 34 v. Missouri State (1/22/06)
7. Missouri
State 35 v. Southern Illinois (2/21/04)
T10. Indiana State 37 @ Southern
Illinois (1/2/90)
T10. Indiana State 37 v. Southern Illinois
(1/22/09)
T15. Southern Illinois 38 v. Indiana State (1/2/90)
T15. Indiana
State 38 v. Drake (1/1/09)
Gettin' Defensive ? The Indiana State Sycamores are giving up 57.5 ppg
during Missouri Valley Conference play which is third best in the league this
season. For the season, ISU is allowing 61.8 ppg which is the best scoring
defense average for Indiana State under ninth-year head coach Jim Wiedie. ISU
allowed just 38 points to Drake in the Valley season opener on New Year's Day.
ISU outdid themselves last week, holding Southern Illinois to 37 points, which
is the tied for the tenth-lowest point total in MVC history during a league
game. There have been a total of 16 league games in the history of the
conference in which a team has held the opposition to 38 points or less and ISU
has accomplished that feat twice this season through just seven games of league
play. The Sycamores have held their opponents to 59 point or less on 11
occasions this season.
Indiana State Scoring Defense Under Head Coach Jim Wiedie
Year Scoring
Defense
2008-09 61.8
2007-08 70.3
2006-07 70.0
2005-06 64.8
2004-05 64.8
2003-04 68.3
2002-03 66.9
2001-02 68.6
2000-01 71.6
Luna Earns Prestigious Academic Award ? Junior Kelsey Luna has earned ESPN
The Magazine Academic All-District V honors during her standout season for the
Sycamores after being named to the second team last season. She carries a 4.0
grade point average in Psychology and marks the fifth different Sycamore to earn
such an honor. Luna's name currently appears on the Academic All-America ballot
as is attempting to earn that national honor for the first time. ISU has had an
Academic All-American in each of the last three seasons.
Lunar Rising ? Junior guard Kelsey Luna continues to climb the Sycamore
records book in career 3-point field goals made as she now has 207 triples, good
enough for third-best ever at ISU. Luna is also seven 3-pointers from Lisa
Verhoff's second place mark of 214 career triples. Kourtney Mennen is the school
record holder with 256 career makes from long range. Her 207 career 3-pointers
are 14th-best in the history of the Missouri Valley Conference. She needs seven
more to pass Verhoff for 13th all-time.
Phillips Is Fifth ? Senior captain and guard Leah Phillips went down with a
knee injury in the first half of the Drake game and will finish the season with
169 career 3-point field goals made, which is fifth-best in the school record
books. Her career 3-point field goal percentage of .386 is tied for seventh-best
ever in the program.
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 ? With pink pom-poms on almost every seat, the Indiana
State Sycamores (12-11, 8-4 MVC) celebrated the WBCA Pink Zone and Cancer
Awareness Day on Nellie & John Wooden Court at Hulman Center on Saturday
afternoon. However the Sycamores, after losing their fourth starter to injury,
could not use the day as motivation and fell to the Missouri State Bears (7-17,
3-10 MVC) by a final score of 53-40.
Missouri State came out shooting hot with two three-pointers by Jasmine
Malone and Jaleshia Roberson, while the Sycamores started a little slower with
two turnovers. Indiana State finally got their first basket at the 19:03 mark
when Shannon Thomas finished off an offensive rebound. After another Sycamore
miscue, the Bears capitalized with Casey Garrison making 1-of-2 free throws.
Kelsie Cooley made the second Indiana State basket off a pass from Kara Schilli
to bring the Sycamores back to within three at 9-6 at the 15:45 mark in the
first half.
After a period of turnovers for both teams, Brittany Schoen finished off a
three-pointer to tie the game up at 9-9 with 13:56 remaining in the half. On
the Sycamores next possession, Thomas got another layup to give the Sycamores
their first lead. Schoen would add to the lead with her second three-pointer.
Missouri State would answer the Sycamores mini run with a basket by Maggie Dwyer
to put the score at 14-11 in favor of the Sycamores at the 12:46 mark in the
first half.
Bianca Jarrett made her first basket of the game when she got an offensive
rebound from a Schoen drive. Jarrett was fouled on the play, but would not be
able to convert the three-point play. Missouri State would also work hard on
the offensive glass with Malone getting a layup off a missed shot. Missouri
State would continue its scoring ways as Melissa Busby hit the Bears' third
three-pointer of the day to bring the visitors within one at 17-16 with 8:58
remaining in the first half.
Neither team would score again until Cooley converted 1-of-2 free-throws
after getting fouled on a drive to the basket at the 5:48 mark giving the
Sycamores a four point lead of 20-16.
Missouri State would end a six-minute field goal drought by both teams when
Roberson made a jumper from the wing. Lacey Boshe would tie up the game for the
Bears a couple possessions later after making a layup with 1:41 left in the
first half. This basket would be the final points before the break with the
score knotted at 20-20.
Thomas led the Sycamores with six points and eight rebounds. Schoen also
checked in with six points. ISU shot just 7-for-21 from the field. Sixteen
first-half turnovers allowed the Bears to score nine of their 20 points.
Malone and Roberson each had five points at the break for the Bears. MSU
shot 8-for-27 from the field.
Coming out of the break both teams would go back and forth with the lead
with Missouri State getting a basket from Bosch and a pair of free-throws from
Dwyer. Schoen would answer the call for the Sycamores with her third
three-pointer of the game at the 18:04 mark. Missouri State would then take its
biggest lead of the game on a three-pointer by Malone to give the Bears a 29-23
advantage at the 14:40 mark in the second half.
Thomas, making a hard drive to the basket, would finish it off with the
layup. However, MSU would answer the Thomas basket with a three-point play.
Garrison would make her first three-pointer of the game, stretching the Bears
lead to ten points at 35-25 with 13:09 to go in the game.
Malone again was the Sycamore killer by knocking down a three-pointer with
just 5 seconds left on the shot clock. Schoen, fighting to keep her team in the
game would bury a jump shot to bring the Sycamores back to 39-28 with 10:52 left
in the game.
MSU scored the next six points to go up by 17 points with just nine minutes
to go in the game.
Amanda Pedro, playing big minutes for the Sycamores, made her first basket
since scoring five points against Ball State, to bring Indiana State closer.
Pedro would then find a wide open Cooley under the basket for two more points.
After a great defensive effort by the Sycamores, Cooley would swish just her
second three-pointer of the season to cut the lead to eight points.
Missouri State would then take control of the final minutes of the game
when Harrington buried a three pointer at the top of the key. Pedro would make
1-of-2 free throws for the Sycamores, but that would be the final points of the
game, giving MSU a 53-40 victory, just their third win in the MVC.
Schoen would be the only Sycamore to score in double figures, tying her
career high with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting including a 3-for-9 effort from
behind the arc. Thomas also grabbed ten rebounds for ISU. MSU's Malone would
be the lone Bear in double figures with 15 points. The visiting team finished
with 16 points off Sycamore turnovers.
The Previous Meeting ? Indiana State (10-8, 6-1 MVC) captured another
conference victory this afternoon after defeating Evansville (8-10, 1-6 MVC)
66-59 to remain undefeated on Nellie & John Wooden Court in MVC play this
season. Kelsey Luna led the way for the Sycamores as she dropped 23 points
including her 200th career 3-pointer.
An 8-3 Evansville run is how this matchup began. An exchange of 3-point
buckets by Robyn Jennings and Kelsey Luna marked the first points of the game
for each team. After Evansville's Shannon Novosel made an easy two under the
basket, head coach Jim Wiedie decided to call a timeout before the Purple Aces
had a chance to cushion their lead.
Out of the timeout, Indiana State went on a 7-2 run which saw Luna sink her
second 3-pointer of the game to make it a 10-10 game within 16:07
remaining.
The Sycamores took their first lead of the game when Kelsie Coolie went
2-for-2 at the foul line to put Indiana State up 12-10 with 15:26 to go. That
lead would be short-lived as Evansville outscored the Sycamores 15-0 in the next
four minutes to go up by nine points at 25-16 with 11:50 showing on the clock.
Indiana State went on a surge and jumped back to within one at the 9:08
mark after 3-pointers by Bianca Jarrett and Luna surrounded a Cooley lay-up to
make it 28-27 in favor of the Aces. Shannon Thomas had an opportunity to put
her Sycamore squad in the lead but she missed her second free throw to keep the
game knotted at 30-30 with five-and-a-half minutes to play in the first
half.
Thomas redeemed herself on her next visit to the charity stripe as she sunk
both free throws to put Indiana State ahead by two, 32-30, with under four
minutes to go. The starting center also added four more points before the break
to help the Sycamores take a 37-32 lead into halftime.
After the first period, Luna led all scorers with 10 points including a
3-for-5 mark from 3-point range. Cooley and Thomas chipped in eight and seven
respectively. The Sycamores shot 37.5 percent from the field.
The Purple Aces were led by Novosel who tallied seven at the break.
Evansville, trailed at the half despite shooting 44 percent from the
field.
The Sycamores opened the second half on a 9-3 run thanks to Schoen who
knocked down five quick points and Luna who buried two jumpers to give the
Sycamores their largest lead of the game at 46-34 with 16:45 to go.
The Purple Aces responded with a 16-4 run of their own with eight of those
points coming off Sycamore turnovers. Evansville's run was highlighted by a
Jennings steal and put-back and a Kelsey Sperka 3-pointer that tied the game at
50-all with 9:44 showing on the clock.
The Sycamores regained the lead on a pair of Schilli free throws and one
from Jarrett only to have Jennings tie the game back up with a 3-ball with 8:14
remaining.
The Purple Aces took their first lead since 8:05 left in half number one
when Ashley Austin hit a jumper making it 55-53 Evansville. Cooley then stepped
up with a layup on the other end just to see Jennings hit another shot for the
Purple Aces to put them back up by two with 4:37 left.
After Jarrett tied it up with a pair of free throws, Luna, the nation's
leader in most 3-pointers made per game, knocked down her 200th career trey to
widen the gap. Cooley buried a layup on their next possession to put the
Sycamores up by five at 62-57 with 2:32 remaining.
Evansville's Anaris Sickles grabbed an offensive rebound and scored,
cutting the lead to three, but the Purple Aces missed a key 3-pointer with under
30 seconds to go that led to a pair of Luna free throws to ice the game for the
Sycamores as the final score was 66-59 in favor of Indiana State.
Luna finished with a game-high 23 points and Cooley followed with 12.
Schilli grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and Jarrett paced the Sycamores with 5
assists to go along with ten points. Indiana State shot 39 percent from the
field on 20-for-51 shooting.
Evansville was led by Jennings who tallied 11 points. Novosel and Austin
each had nine. The Purple Aces also shot 39 percent from the field on 22-for-60
shooting.
Up Next ? Indiana State stays on the road Saturday, February 21 when they
travel to Southern Illinois. Tip-off is set for 3:05 p.m. (EDT) and can be heard
live on The Crock 92.7 FM as well as online at GoSycamores.com.
