The Basics ? Indiana State opens up play in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the fifth seed, taking on the fourth seeded Bradley Braves in the quarterfinals. ISU split with the Braves during the regular season, including a 62-58 victory at home earlier this month. The Sycamores have reached double figure MVC victories this season for the sixth time in the last seven years. Tip-off is set for 3:35 p.m. (EDT).
Bradley Series Notes ? Indiana State leads the all-time series against Bradley by a 36-20 margin, including a 2-0 lead on a neutral court. The Sycamores and Braves split the regular season series with Bradley taking an 81-62 victory in East Peoria, Ill., while Indiana State earned a 62-58 win on Nellie & John Wooden Court at Hulman Center March 1. ISU holds a 1-0 advantage over Bradley in games played during the State Farm MVC Tournament. That one victory came in the quarterfinals of the 2005 event when the No. 2 seeded Sycamores earned an 83-59 victory over the No. 7 seeded Bradley Braves inside Redbird Arena.
On The Air ? Friday afternoon's game can be heard live in the Wabash Valley on The Crock 92.7 FM in the Wabash Valley. Brent Holl calls the action while Ace Hunt provides color commentary. The game can also be heard live via the internet at espnsportsradio.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 155-107 at Indiana State and is 15-4 versus the Braves. Wiedie owns a 1-0 record against Bradley in the State Farm MVC Tournament. At the conference tournament, Wiedie has led the Sycamores to a 6-8 mark in conference tournament play, but has led Indiana State to the tournament final three times. The Sycamores dropped each of those tournament finals in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Wiedie possesses 96 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 three more victories to break the school record for career coaching victories.
About The Bradley Coach ? Bradley is led by ninth-year head coach Paula Buscher, who is 116-141 at the Peoria, Ill., school. Buscher is 159-179 in 12 seasons as a collegiate head coach, and owns a 4-15 mark against Indiana State. She is 0-1 versus the Sycamores at the State Farm MVC Tournament. Bradley is 1-8 in conference tournament play under Buscher.
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 96-66, 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 62-18 mark in regular season home MVC games, including four 8-1 seasons. Wiedie's 96 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 96 career MVC victories rank seventh all-time in Valley history. He is now 13 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 17 of their 29 games this season, winning a school record five such contests, including overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit in the season's final homestand against Northern Iowa ... ISU is 9-0 when leading at the half ... Indiana State is 6-2 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 ... Four players have missed time this season due to knee injuries (Leah Phillips, Lawrence Rivest, Deja Mattox and Kelsey Luna) ... Indiana State's sweep of Northern Iowa was their lone season series sweep of a Missouri Valley Conference opponent this year, while Missouri State's sweep of the Sycamores proved to be the only opponent to down Indiana State twice during the regular season ... The Sycamores are the league's No. 5 seed at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time ever.
The Wildest Game At Chuck Madness ? The State Farm Missouri Conference Tournament, a.k.a in league circles as Chuck Madness, due to its location in St. Charles, Mo., is annually highlighted by the second game of quarterfinal play when the league's No. 4 & No. 5 seeds hook up in what usually is one of just two or three games all weekend among teams separated by just one seeding position. ISU is 1-2 in this game, having played in it as the No. 4 seed in those previous matchups. There have been 24 games in the conference tournament that have been decided by three points or less and six of those instances (25 percent) have come in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 quarterfinal contest. Indiana State was a part of one of those games when they dropped a 59-58 decision to Southern Illinois in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 quarterfinal game in 1997.
Sycamores Have Most Double Figure League Victory Totals In Last Seven Seasons ? Indiana State has recorded at least 10 victories in six of the last seven seasons, a feat that no one else in the Missouri Valley Conference can match. Since the 2002-03 campaign, when Indiana State went 13-5 in league play and shared the regular season championship with Creighton, the Sycamores have pushed themselves into double figure league victories every season except for 2007-08. During that span, ISU has finished second in the league with another 13-5 mark during 2004-05 and was a school-record 16-2 during the outright championship season of 2005-06. This season the Sycamores lost four of its top five scorers for a greater portion of the league schedule and still managed to record 10 MVC victories. Additionally, the Sycamores are one of just three league members to claim at least a share of two regular season championships since the 2002-03 campaign. The Sycamores got theirs in 2002-03 as well as 2005-06 while Illinois State did it in 2007-08 & 2008-09 while Missouri State earned their titles in 2003-04 & 2004-05.
Number of Seasons With At Least 10 Missouri Valley Conference Victories Since 2002-03
1. Indiana State 6 (Two Regular Season Championships)
2. Creighton 5 (One Regular Season Championship)
tie Drake 5 (One Regular Season Championship)
4. Evansville 4 (One Regular Season Championship)
tie Northern Iowa 4 (No Regular Season Championships)
6. Illinois State 3 (Two Regular Season Championships)
tie Missouri State 3 (Two Regular Season Championships)
8. Southern Illinois 1 (Regular Season Championship)
tie Bradley 1 (No Regular Season Championships)
Scoring Punch Lost ? Indiana State has lost the services of four key players for a great portion of the conference season due to injury and then lost another after being dismissed from the team because of a failure to meet team standards. Laurence Rivest tore her ACL during preseason workouts and saw action in two games this season while Leah Phillips suffered her torn ACL on New Year's Day against Drake and has played in only two league games. Freshman Deja Mattox went down on January 22 against Southern Illinois with an ACL and then the Sycamores lost Kelsey Luna to an ACL injury on February 12 against Wichita State. Freshman Bianca Jarrett was dismissed from the team on February 27 prior to the Northern Iowa game. All told, ISU has lost its No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 leading scorers for the season due to either injuries or dismissal. Those losses have meant the Sycamores have been without 41.8 points of their 58.4 ppg team scoring average, or 71.6 percent of their scoring production that no longer active or was missing for the greater portion of MVC play. In research conducted earlier this week, only Creighton would have missed more scoring punch if each team in The Valley would have lost the scoring leaders that ISU has this season. Losing the top three plus number five scorers this season would have cost the ?Jays 73.2 percent of their scoring. No other league team would have dropped more than 70 percent of their scoring due to those losses other than Creighton or Indiana State.
Luna Continues Academic Run ? You can do well in the classroom and on the court and Indiana State continues to prove that each and every year. Indiana State junior guard Kelsey Luna, who carries a 4.0 grade point average in Psychology was named the 2009 Prairie Farms Missouri Valley Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year. This is in addition to her All-MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team; ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-America and First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selections earlier this season. Luna paced the team with her 14.5 ppg average, which is third-best in the league this season. She ranks nationally in the top 10 for 3-pointers made per game with 3.0 per game and her 42.3 3-point field goal percentage is second in The Valley as well as in the top 15 nationally. In the eight years that the league has named a Scholar-Athlete of the Year, an Indiana State student-athlete has captured that honor four times. Luna joins Kourtney Mennen (2003); Melanie Boeglin (2006) and Laura Rudolphi (2007) as the Sycamore honorees. Luna's Second Team Academic All-America plaudits marks the fourth consecutive season that a member of the Indiana State Women's Basketball Team has earned that honor as well. As a team, the Sycamores cumulative grade-point average has ranked in the nation's top three following six of the last seven seasons and has won the NCAA Division I Team Grade Point National Championship twice in 2003 & 2005.
Phillips Gets In ? Senior guard Leah Phillips played her final home game against Bradley as the ISU women's basketball team downed the Braves by a 62-58 count at Hulman Center on March 1. The fact that Phillips played at all was amazing considering that she went down with what was believed to be a season and career ending ACL injury on New Year's Day in The Valley opener against Drake. Through tough, aggressive rehab of the injured knee and a burning desire to beat the odds and play on her Senior Day, Phillips was able to be cleared by the team's medical staff to suit up and start against the Braves. Phillips went out and drilled a 3-pointer right out of the gate to give the Sycamores a 3-2 lead with 19:17 left in the first half. She also made a late game steal which gave the Sycamores the ball back in the waning minutes which led to a Brittany Schoen 3-pointer to increase the Sycamore advantage and then got an offensive rebound with one minute remaining which helped seal ISU's thrilling victory on Senior Day.
Welcome Back ? Senior Tiffany Reida got back into the flow of college basketball for the first time in nearly three years when she played 15 minutes at Creighton. She went on to grab three rebounds in 17 minutes of action at Drake. Reida was recently cleared to play after suffering from back problems since the conclusion of her freshman season.
Thomas Time ? Freshman Shannon Thomas tied a career-high with 11 points as the Sycamores concluded the regular season at Drake. Thomas hit 5-of-10 shots from the field and pulled down six rebounds against the Bulldogs. She also tied a career-best with three blocked shots inside the Drake Knapp Center. That game followed another standout effort at Creighton in which she scored five points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds with a blocked shot as well as a steal. For the week, Thomas averaged 8.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game with four blocked shots and a steal. She hit 6-of-13 shots from the field and was 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.
The Fresh Faces Making An Impact! ? Indiana State's roster features six freshmen this season and they are making an immediate impact on the Sycamore women's basketball program. Paced now by Shannon Thomas, who is averaging 6.0 points as well as 5.4 rebounds per game, the freshmen have accounted for 765 of ISU's 1694 total points scored, or 45.1 percent. In ISU's MVC games the Sycamore freshmen have accounted for 544 of a total of 1,019 points scored, or 53.3 percent.
Gettin To The Stripe? The Indiana State Sycamores are parading to the free throw line this year as they have made 105 more trips to the charity stripe (491 to 386) than their opponents. In fact, ISU has made 349 free throws this season while their opponents have attempted jut 386. In MVC play, the Sycamores have made 111 more trips to the line in 18 games (an average of 6.2 per game) and have made 226 free throws while the opponents have only attempted 206.
Gettin' Defensive ? The Indiana State Sycamores are giving up 58.6 ppg during Missouri Valley Conference play which is third best in the league this season. For the year, ISU is allowing 61.6 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 later in the year, 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 18 league games in the history of the conference in which a team has held the opposition to 38 points or less and ISU accomplished that feat twice this season. The Sycamores have held their opponents to 59 points or less on 14 occasions this season.
Indiana State Scoring Defense Under Head Coach Jim Wiedie
Year Scoring Defense
2008-09 61.6
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
Lets Get Three! ? Ninth-year Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie enters Friday's contest against Bradley with 155 career victories, needing just three more to pass Edith Godleski and set a new 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.
Luna Named Academic All-America; Four Consecutive Season Now For Sycamores ? Indiana State junior guard Kelsey Luna has earned ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American honors for the first time in her career. It keeps a string of four consecutive seasons in which a Sycamore has earned the nation's top honor for a women's basketball student-athlete. Luna has maintained an exemplary 4.0 grade point average in Psychology through two and half years at Indiana State. She took home first team academic all-district honors earlier this season and was a second team academic all-district selection last year. She also was named second team academic all-conference as a sophomore. Prior to suffering a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago, Luna was enjoying her finest season as a Sycamore. Her 14.5 ppg average ranked third in the Missouri Valley Conference while her 3.0 3-pointers per game was tops in the league and third nationally. Luna was hitting 42.3 percent of her 3-point shots which was third in the league and 20th-best in the nation. She also ranked in The Valley's Top 10 for steals and minutes played per game.
Come On In! Sit A Spell! ? Indiana State is averaging 4,100 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 4,085 fans per home game ranks second-best in the league behind Missouri State and is 22nd nationally.
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 168 career 3-point field goals made, which is fifth-best in the school record books. Her career 3-point field goal percentage of .384 is the eighth-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 ? Indiana State limited Drake to just 36.7 percent shooting from the field, but the Bulldogs tallied 14 second chance points and converted 18 ISU turnovers into 19 points en route to earning a 63-38 victory in front of 2,423 fans at the Knapp Center.
The regular season concluded for Indiana State with a 14-15 overall record and a 10-8 ledger in The Valley while Drake wrapped up its season with an 18-11 overall record and a 12-6 mark in league play.
ISU has secured the No. 5 seed at next week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and will take on the No. 4 seeded Bradley Braves at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) inside The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., on Friday, March 13.
The Sycamores were able to hold Drake to a 22-of-60 shooting effort from the floor (36.7 percent), but the Bulldogs got 15 more field goal attempts than ISU by virtue of its 20 offensive rebounds. Drake converted those in 14 second chance points. Indiana State could must just a 15-of-45 mark from the floor and were only 1-of-12 from behind the 3-point line.
The Bulldogs owned a 46-25 rebounding edge in the game.
Freshman Shannon Thomas was 5-of-10 from the floor as she tied her career high with 11 points and posted three blocked shots off the bench. Also in double figures was senior Kara Schilli, who likewise posted a 5-of-10 mark from the floor to post 10 points as well.
Brittany Schoen scored seven points, hitting all five of her free throw attempts.
Drake was paced by a 13-point effort from Amber Wollschlager. Coming into the game she had hit just three 3-pointers during league play, but tied that mark in game's first few minutes.
The Bulldogs came out blazing in the first half, reaching 30 points by the 10 minute mark of the first half. The Sycamore defense really clamped down and allowed just one field goal over the final half of the first period and took a 32-21 lead into the locker room.
ISU came out strong in the second half using a lay-up by Kelsie Cooley to trim the lead down to 32-23 and after Monique Jones stretched the lead back to 10 points, Sarah Paul scored on a driving lay-up to make it 33-25. That would be as close as the Sycamores would get the rest of the game as Drake used its size, rebounding and defensive pressure to take the 63-38 victory.
ISU held Drake to just 38 points in the season opener on Nellie & John Wooden Court at Hulman Center to post one of the best defensive efforts in the history of the league, but this time it was Drake that posted the record setting mark in holding the Sycamores to just 38 points in the game.
As mentioned earlier, the Sycamores open play in the State Farm MVC Tournament against Bradley on Friday, March 13 at 3:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on a pay-per-view basis at MVCSports.com as well as heard on The Crock 92.7 FM in the Wabash Valley and world-wide at GoSycamores.com.
The Previous Meeting ? It was senior day this afternoon at Hulman Center and what a better way to send out Leah Phillips and Kara Schilli then by defeating the Bradley Braves (19-8, 10-6 MVC), the No. 4 team in the conference by a final score of 62-58. Indiana State (14-13, 10-6 MVC) will finish the season with just one loss in conference play at home.
Despite a quick layup by Bradley's Raisa Taylor, Phillips knocked down her first three-point attempt since tearing her ACL on January 1 against Drake to get the Hulman Center crowd on their feet. Kelsie Cooley, who drained 22 points last game to tie her career high, followed Phillips' three-ball with a nifty bank-shot in the lane to put Indiana State up 5-2 early on.
That lead would be extended to 10-4 at the 16:31 mark after Amanda Pedro scored back-to-back baskets ? first on an offensive rebound and put-back followed up by a three-pointer to register five quick points for her Sycamore squad. After a media timeout, Shannon Thomas got in on the scoring action by receiving the ball under the hoop from Sarah Paul and easily putting it in to extend the lead to 12-4.
The Braves then stormed back thanks in large part to their pressing defense that forced five Sycamore turnovers. Monica Rogers hit two jumpers to spark the run as the lead was cut to four at 14-10 with 12:02 left in the half.
Schilli then drove the lane and scored a quick bucket putting Indiana State back up by six. However, a 10-2 Bradley scoring run including a three-pointer by Jenny Van Kirk that were the first Brave points not scored from inside the paint, gave the visitors their first lead at 20-18 since scoring the initial bucket of the contest.
The Sycamores fought back with seven straight points that included a Megan Burton three-pointer, a Schilli jumper, and two free-throws from Brittany Schoen that put the home team back by five, 25-20 with 5:14 remaining.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Renee Frericks followed up with a Hanna Muegge jumper on a fast break gave the Braves a three-point advantage at 28-25. However, a Pedro three-ball broke the Braves 8-0 scoring spurt and tied the ballgame up at 28-all with 2:08 showing on the game clock that forced the Bradley head coach into calling a thirty-second timeout. Out of the break, Muegge converted a short jumper to put the Braves back up by two. Schilli matched Muegge the next time down the court when she received the ball in the paint from Thomas and finished the turn around jumper to tie the game back up at 30-30.
Indiana State would take a 32-30 lead heading into halftime after Thomas blocked a Bradley layup attempt and then was rewarded on the offensive end when Schilli made a great pass to Thomas underneath the basket who finished the easy put in before the buzzer sounded.
The Sycamores shot 48 percent from the field on 13-of-27 shooting. They were led in first-half scoring by Pedro with eight points.
For Bradley, they shot 35 percent on 13-of-37 shooting and were led in scoring by Renee Frericks with nine points. Eighteen of the Braves 30 points were scored from inside the paint.
Second half action started just like the first with Bradley scoring an almost immediate layup to tie the game at 32-all. Cooley would make 2-for-2 charity tosses to put the Sycamores back up by two early on.
Laurence Rivest, who suffered an ACL tear before the season started and saw her first collegiate basketball action this afternoon, tallied her first career assist when she found Thomas underneath the basket. Following a Rogers jumper, Sarah Paul had control of the ball at the top of the key when she was closely pressured by a Bradley defender. Paul decided to take the ball all the way around the right wing and straight to the basket to sink the layup. Unfortunately, another Bradley layup would tie the game back up at 38-38 with 16:27 left to play.
After two more Cooley free-throws, the Braves regained the lead at 41-40 when Frericks made her third three-pointer of the game at the 13:30 mark. Skye Johnson extended the Bradley lead at 43-40 when she stole the ball and went on a solo fast break to score the layup at 10:07. Thomas would follow with a jumper inside the paint to bring Indiana State within one but yet another Bradley bucket inside the paint put the score at 45-42 in favor of the visiting team.
Schoen, after starting out 0-for-4 from three-point range, made three consecutive baskets from behind the arc to give the Sycamores some momentum and put Indiana State up 51-49 with about five minutes to play. Pedro would nail a three-pointer 90 seconds later to give the Sycamores a four-point advantage at 55-51.
With 1:28 remaining, the Sycamores held a two-point lead at 55-53 after Bradley scored another basket inside the paint. Schoen came up huge once again with another three-pointer to tally a career-high 14 points and put Indiana State up 58-53.
After Bradley's Sonya Harris added a layup to make it 58-55, the ball was in the hands of the Sycamores with less than 30 ticks to play. Indiana State sent Paul to the free-throw in a bonus situation after being fouled, but she failed to make the charity toss and the score remained 58-55.
After a jump-ball situation, the possession arrow favored Bradley with 9.6 seconds to play. The Braves called a timeout to set up a play but a three-pointer by Michelle Lung hit off the side of the backboard and went out of bounds.
With 6.3 seconds to play, Indiana State got the ball in bounds to Paul who had a chance to redeem herself after missing a free-throw a moment earlier. Paul did just that after she made both free-throws to put the game out of reach for Bradley at 60-55.
However, a banked hail-mary three-pointer by Frericks stunned the Hulman Center crowd and brought Bradley within three with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Head coach Jim Wiedie drew up the perfect play that sent Paul sprinting down the court. Schilli tossed the inbounds pass right into her hands past mid-court and Paul was immediately fouled. Once again, Paul drained both free-throws and this time Bradley had no chance of coming back. Indiana State pulled out the 62-58 victory over the Braves, the perfect way to send out their two seniors who played in their final game at home ? Phillips and Schilli.
The Sycamores finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field including a 39 percent mark from three-point range (9-of-23). An 11-for-13 showing from the charity stripe including a 4-5 effort from Paul down the stretch helped the Sycamores seal the victory. Paul played a key role in tonight's victory as she controlled the point-guard position for a career-high 38 minutes. Indiana State was led in scoring by Schoen who tallied a career-high 14 points. Pedro also chipped in a career-high 12 points. Thomas also had an impressive performance pouring in eight points and nine rebounds.
Indiana State received 29 points from their bench and 21 points off of Bradley turnovers.
Bradley shot 39 percent on 26-for-67 shooting including just 5-for-23 from three-point range not to mention only 1-for-3 from the free-throw line. The Braves were led by Frericks with 15 points and had two players with double-doubles ? Harris who tallied 10 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Rogers who had ten points and ten rebounds.
Up Next ? The winner of Friday's game against Bradley will advance to take on the victor of an earlier quarterfinal game between No. 1 Illinois State and the winner of Thursday night's opening round game between No. 8 Southern Illinois and No. 9 Evansville. That semifinal contest is slated for Saturday, March 14 at 6:05 p.m. (EDT) inside The Family Arena.
