NORMAL, Ill. – The Indiana State Women's Basketball team couldn't hang on to a second half eight point lead and fell in the final seconds to Illinois State on the road, 53-50, on Friday evening in Redbird Arena.

It was a back-and-forth battle with 10 lead changes and seven ties throughout, but turnovers marred the Sycamores 42.6 percent shooting on the night. ISU (12-9, 7-3 MVC) gave up the ball a season-high 25 times including 12 in the first half as a turnover would squash a last second shot for the Sycamores.

Bench play had to pick up the slack, with junior guard Stephanie Wittman scoring a team-high 10 points and half of the 20 bench points. She finished 4-for-6 from the floor including 2-for-2 from behind the arc along with three boards and two assists.

Illinois State isolated leading scorer senior guard Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir as she scored nine points and had five turnovers in the loss.

Along with turnovers, the Sycamores struggled getting to the free throw line. Indiana State went 5-for-9 from the charity stripe compared to Illinois State's 20-for-29 performance. It marked the lowest performance from the line in both attempts and makes for the Sycamores this season.

Junior guard Travecia Franklin grabbed a team-high six rebounds as ISU won on the boards, 34-31, but struggled on the offensive glass with just five on the evening.

The Sycamores held an eight point lead on two occasions with Franklin sinking a free throw with 8:22 to play. But a 9-0 run by Illinois State within the next 3:15 put the Redbirds up 44-43.

Indiana State went on a 6-0 run of their own, but five-consecutive points by Illinois State's Stekra Hall put her team up two with 1:24 to play. Hall led with a game-high 26 points and four rebounds.

Sophomore forward Marina Laramie went to the bucket and got fouled, but could only hit the back end of her two free throw shot as Illinois State kept a one point lead.

Chloe Nelson would increase the Redbird lead to two on a free throw with 25 seconds to play but Abdul-Qaadir couldn't convert on a jumper with seven seconds remaining on the clock.

Indiana State earned a jump ball with six seconds left on its half of the floor. However, a traveling violation by Wittman would seal the win for the Redbirds.

Nine total players scored on the evening for Indiana State, behind Wittman and Abdul-Qaadir. Sophomore forward Marina Laramie chipped in eight points and five boards and junior forward Racheal Mahan scored six points and four rebounds.

ISU is back in action at the Hulman Center on Friday versus Southern Illinois. Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. ET for the Pink Out.

For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram