TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Wendi Bibbins scored 22 points and Tierra Webb added 14 for Indiana State but a rally against the preseason Mid-American Conference favorite fell short in a 77-67 loss to Central Michigan Saturday afternoon at the Hulman Center.
 
Credit the improved shooting by Bibbins and the rest of her team to allow a comeback to even be possible. The senior forward scored a career best 11 field goals and the Sycamores (2-7) tied a season-best shooting performance with a 45.8 clip from the field.
 
However, it was a second quarter dip that provided a daunting task for the host Sycamores. Central Michigan (8-1), ranked ninth in the mid-major poll, went on a 15-0 run just before halftime and the Chippewas took an 18-point lead into the intermission thanks in part to Presley Hudson's 18 points at the break, all from 3-pointers.
 
"This is a gut check," Indiana State head coach Joey Wells told his team at halftime.
 
Trailing by as much as 22 in the third quarter, Indiana State would use a renewed energy and focus in the second half to slowly whittle away at Central Michigan's lead. The Sycamores would pull within five points with less to three minutes to play before the Chippewas would pull away for good.
 
"This is the mental and physical toughness that we have been preaching about and that we have been lacking," Wells said. "But we showed it tonight on both ends of the floor. So I am very proud. Hopefully we can take this and turn the corner, knowing that we have the potential and capability to be a really good team."
 
More than scoring, it took a strong and well-executed defense to allow such a comeback to even be a possibility. Facing the nation's 10^th-best scoring offense averaging 87.4 points per game, Indiana State would utilize a season-high eight blocks and held CMU to a season-low 37.5 shooting from the field to climb back into the game.
 
"We won and we're on the road," CMU coach Sue Guevara said. "It was ugly, but we were able to pull it out. That's about as much as I can say."
 
Hudson, who led Central Michigan with 26 points, wouldn't hit another 3-point shot after halftime. The Chippewas would shoot only 30.8 percent in the fourth quarter, their fourth-lowest mark of any quarter this season. And the 77 points marked a season-low Central.
 
"It was just the energy today," Webb said. The energy was out of the roof. We fed off each other."
 
At the end of the day, Central Michigan would hit 11 3-pointers and finish the game a perfect 18 of 18 from the free throw line.
 
"Free throws win games and that's how we won today," Guevara said.
 
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