Bonnie Ryan
GoSycamores.com
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The No. 8 seed Indiana State women's basketball team earned its first 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament win Thursday night, posting a 73-57 opening-round victory over ninth-seeded Southern Illinois. With the win, the Sycamores improve to 17-13 (7-11 MVC) on the year and advance to Friday's game with league champion Illinois State.
ISU's effort marked the team's first conference tournament win since 2005-06, and Indiana State now has 10 wins throughout the program's history at the league championship event.
Four Sycamores finished in double-figure scoring, led by Kelsey Luna's 20 points. The senior from St. Louis finished 3-for-5 from the field and a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line, which tied her career best at the charity stripe. Luna had two 3-pointers, which brings her career total to 264 triples, good for fifth in conference history. She added six assists and two steals, and also had five rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
Sophomore Shannon Thomas achieved her sixth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds on the night. She went 5-for-8 from the field and also had a pair of blocks and three steals. In addition, sophomore Brittany Schoen had 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting, and sophomore Deja Mattox totaled 10 points with five rebounds.
As a team, Indiana State shot 43.5 percent (20-for-46) and held SIU to 28.1 percent from the field. The Sycamores also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Salukis 42-40. Additionally, ISU shot an outstanding 85 percent from the free throw line, making 29 of 34 shots.
"I am definitely proud of the way we played tonight," Assistant Coach Clint Weddle said. "I want to compliment Southern Illinois; they played a great basketball game, and it was a battle for 40 minutes. [The win] means a lot to our kids. We are just really proud of the way they approached the entire week. We talk about each day being a championship for us, and that's what that was tonight."
ISU went up 5-4 to open the game on a jumper and a 3-pointer by Luna. After a Neptune layup, Schoen fired in a three, and Mattox banked in her first shot to stay up by one. The Salukis then went ahead by five, but Mattox and Thomas kept ISU in the hunt at 15-14 with a pair of baskets.
A jumper by junior Kelsie Cooley tied the game at 19-19, and after two buckets from SIU, freshman Taylor Whitley dropped in a triple to keep it within one. After tying it up again at 24-all, senior Laurence Rivest popped in a shot in the paint to go up by three, and Luna hit her first two free throws of the game. In the final minutes, an inside effort by SIU's Christine Presswood and a charity shot by Stephany Neptune tied the score at 31-31 at halftime.
In the second half, Katrina Swingler hit a 3-pointer at 18:20, but the Sycamores held the Salukis scoreless from the field for the next seven minutes. Thomas then had a three-point play to start ISU's 13-0 run, going ahead by a 46-34 lead at the first timeout.
Southern Illinois then went on a 13-6 run of its own to cut the game to 52-47 ISU with nine minutes remaining. A layup and two free throws from Thomas returned the double-digit lead, and a pair of foul shots by Cooley extended it to a 13-point advantage. SIU threatened on Teri Oliver's 3-pointer and free throws by Neptune and Eboni Crayton, bringing the game to 60-52, but the Sycamores nailed 13 more points to seal the deal. ISU converted on 11 free throws, including six from Luna, coupled with a jump shot by Schoen gave ISU the 73-57 victory.
Southern Illinois was led by Presswood's 15 points, while Neptune had 14 and Oliver finished with 12. Neptune also had 12 rebounds with eight assists and five steals.
Indiana State returns to action on Friday, March 12, facing top seed Illinois State. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET) at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
