Bonnie Ryan
GoSycamores.com
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Indiana State women's basketball team saw its five-game winning streak snapped Thursday night at the hands of Drake, 77-58, at the Knapp Center. With the loss, the Sycamores drop to 16-12 (7-10 MVC) on the year before heading into their final regular-season game of the season at Creighton on Saturday.
Sophomore Brittany Schoen led ISU offensively, matching her career high of 17 points for the fifth time in her career. The 17-point performance was Schoen's second consecutive such game, as she also hit the same total last Sunday against Bradley. Tonight, Schoen finished with four 3-pointers and a trio of rebounds with a steal.
Senior Kelsey Luna, sophomore Shannon Thomas and freshman Taylor Whitley also had nine points apiece, while Thomas pulled down a game-leading eight boards and had a career-best seven blocks.. Luna, who had one three on the night, moved into sole possession of fifth place in MVC history with her 259th career triple.
Drake finished with four players in double figures, led by junior Kristin Turk's 28 points. Jordann Plummer, Monique' Jones and Rachael Hackbarth added 11 each. With the win, DU improves to 14-13 (7-10 MVC).
Down 5-3 to start the first half, the Sycamores were unable to score their first field goal until Laurence Rivest's shot in the paint at 12:01. Two straight jumpers from Plummer and another by Turk extended the Bulldogs' lead to eight, before 3-pointers by Luna and Schoen narrowed it to three. Turk came back immediately with a basket, and a triple from Amber Wollschlager made it 23-15, and Thomas pushed in an inside shot to bring ISU back. After DU scored another two buckets, a pair of Cooley free throws and a trey by Schoen then cut it to four, but a last-second Plummer layup left the Sycamores behind 29-23 at the half.
The Bulldogs went out by 10 to open the second stanza, before back-to-back layups by Luna kept Indiana State in the game. Four charity shots and another Schoen three brought it within one long shot, but Turk and Hackbarth quickly put their team back up by nine.
With nine minutes to go the Sycamores threatened within one, as Whitley hit two straight shots, and Thomas had a pair of baskets with a free throw of her own. Five points by Turk and foul shots by Jones, however, took it back out to an eight-point Bulldog lead. Turk, in fact, added 11 more paints over the remainder of the game, and Hackbarth put up six, shutting down ISU and solidifying the double-digit lead. Alex Montgomery hit DU's final shot of the night, a layup in the last minute, to nail down the 77-58 final score.
"Our team competed throughout the entire game," Assistant Coach Clint Weddle said. "We had shots, and we took those shots; sometimes they just don't drop for you. Despite the score, I think this is a sign of a good thing for our team because they kept their composure and continued to battle and play well together."
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, March 6 at Creighton. Tipoff is set for 3:05 p.m. (ET) at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
