CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Indiana State women's basketball team took care of business in their late charge in the Missouri Valley Conference season, picking up their first road victory since Jan. 12 with a 69-46 win at Southern Illinois on Thursday night.

The win improves the Sycamores to 14-15 on the season, into a tie for sixth place with Drake in the MVC standings at 8-9 in league play and one game behind Northern Iowa for fifth place. ISU holds the season series tiebreaker over the Panthers, but would lose the tiebreaker with the Bulldogs. UNI plays at third-place Wichita State on Saturday while Drake hosts fourth-place Creighton.

Southern Illinois came out strong to start the game on Thursday, taking a 7-2 lead after 90 seconds of action. The Indiana State defense took over after that, forcing eight turnovers in the next six minutes as the Sycamores went on a 17-0 run to take a 19-7 lead with 12:24 left in the first half.

ISU would take as much as a 21-point lead in the opening 20 minutes of play, carrying a 41-22 lead into the locker room. Senior Shannon Thomas led the way with 12 points, while fellow seniors Deja Mattox and Brittany Schoen added nine each. Indiana State forced 15 first-half turnovers by Southern Illinois and turned those miscues into a 12-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

SIU would never get closer than 17 points in the second half, as ISU picked up their first road victory since a 68-62 victory in Cedar Falls, Iowa, over Northern Iowa on Thursday, Jan. 12.

Schoen led four Sycamores that would reach double-figures on Thursday, scoring 17 points while knocking down five three-pointers. Thomas (15), Mattox (13) and sophomore Anna Munn (12) all went into double-digits for ISU.

Indiana State will close out their regular season on Saturday, March 3, as the Sycamores take on in-state rival Evansville. The Purple Aces enter their Senior Day at 5-23 overall and 2-15 in league play after falling 62-59 at home to Illinois State on Thursday.