ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Indiana State women's basketball team continued their march through the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday, posting a 29-point victory, 80-51, over the second-seeded Illinois State Redbirds inside The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

The win improves the Sycamores to 16-15 on the season and matches the team up in the semifinals on Saturday against #3 Missouri State, who topped #Drake 86-77 in their quarterfinal contest. The game will be live on FSN Midwest at 5:05 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.

For the second time in the tournament, the Sycamores shot out of the gates to a 10-2 advantage, capping their game-opening run on a 3-pointer from junior Brittany Schoen with 15:20 remaining in the first half. Junior Deja Mattox got Indiana State started on the offensive end, scoring the game's opening five points on a pair of free-throws and a 3-pointer.

After the Redbirds had trimmed the ISU lead to four points, at 10-6 with 13:38 left in the half, the Sycamores posted an 11-2 run to push their lead into double-digits, using a triple from Schoen and eight straight points from sophomore Taylor Whitley to take a 21-8 lead with 8:03 on the first-half clock.

ISU ended the half on a 9-0 run to grab their largest advantage of the game's opening 20 minutes, as Whitley capped the dominating first half with a trey with just four seconds on the clock to put the Sycamores in front 38-19.

Whitley led the Sycamores with 17 points in the first half, going 5-for-8 from the field, including a 2-for-3 effort from long range. Mattox also went into double figures in the first half, adding 11. Emily Hanley led the Redbirds with 11 points and six rebounds.

Illinois State would get as close as 10 points in the second half, as the Redbirds came out of the locker room with a 14-5 run to cut the ISU lead to 43-33 with 16:09 to play. The Sycamores would answer right away, as Schoen took a pass from Whitley on the right wing and knocked down a contested 3-pointer just 12 seconds later, sparking a 13-0 run for the Sycamores that pushed their lead to 56-33 with 11:40 remaining in the contest.

ISU's lead never got below 20 points for the remainder of the game, as ISU posted their second largest winning margin of the season. Mattox led the Sycamores in the second half with 11 points, while Schoen, senior Kelsie Cooley and freshman Anna Munn all added eight.

Mattox led ISU on Friday, tying her career high with 22 points while Whitley tallied her career-high with 21 points. Schoen and Cooley joined their teammates in double figures, adding 14 and 10, respectively. Despite falling short of her season average with just four points, junior Shannon Thomas was key to the Sycamore victory, pulling down 10 rebounds, blocking five shots and dishing three assists.

Thomas and Schoen also hit two career milestones on Friday. Thomas, a native of Springboro, Ohio, became the all-time leader in blocked shots at Indiana State with her first of five, passing former Sycamore great Laura Rudolphi. Thomas currently has 159 career rejections entering Saturday's semifinal game. Schoen tied the single-season record for three-point baskets with her fourth of the game, moving her total for the 2010-11 season to 82. The Elizabeth, Ind., is currently tied with Kourtney Mennen's total from the 2002-03 season.

Indiana State will face Missouri State on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. (ET), in a game that will be telecast live on FSN Midwest. #1 Northern Iowa and #5 Wichita State will match up in the other semifinal contest, beginning at 2:35 p.m. (ET).