CHICAGO – When adversity hit for Indiana State Friday night, the biggest player on the court for the Sycamores stood at an imposing five feet, five inches tall.
 
With five minutes remaining on the clock and host Loyola having cut the Sycamores' lead from as much as 20 down to 13, the point guard known to her teammates as "Biggie" stepped up in a big way. Ashli O'Neal scored nine of her game-high 21 points over the final five minutes including making all four free throw attempts in the final minute of play to help Indiana State seal a 73-65 win over Loyola in Missouri Valley Conference play at Gentile Arena.
 
"Ashli played great," Indiana State interim head coach Josh Keister said of O'Neal's play Friday. "She is getting better and better every time out. She is starting to establish herself as one of the better point guards in this conference. She is our floor leader and she shot the ball really well tonight. The 3s that she made for us tonight came at a big time for us and a big moment. She likes the ball in her hands and she is playing really well right now with a lot of confidence."
 
The play of the sophomore point guard was a welcome relief for Keister and Indiana State (6-13, 4-4). His squad, despite three quarters of solid play, found themselves in a battle after Loyola (3-16, 1-7) opened the final frame on a 9-0 run.
 
"We were talking about, before the fourth quarter, that the game wasn't over yet," Keister said of his message to the team prior to the fourth quarter's start. "We wanted to continue to play hard and continue to play the right way. We didn't handle it, obviously, really well the first minute or two of that fourth quarter. Basically, we got ourselves a ballgame then."
 
Indiana State bent, but didn't break. The Sycamores were 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the final quarter, grabbed four of their nine rebounds in the quarter over the final four-plus minutes and never let the lead get cut to a one-possession game as the Trees made their final eight free throw attempts as the Ramblers fouled in vain to attempt to stay in the game.
 
The win came about from much more than O'Neal's performance. Tierra Webb matched a season-high with 16 points, including passing the 500 career point threshold by opening the game with a 3-pointer, while Ashley Taia's 10 points put her in double figures for the third consecutive game.
 
Overall, Indiana State shot an impressive 45 percent from the field and the team's 40.9 percent shooting on 3-pointers marked the best in a conference game this season.
 
"We got off to a great start," Kesiter said. "We talked about winning the second quarter and were up 12 at halftime and we wanted to extend that lead in the third quarter, which we did. We did a lot of good things tonight. We played well for most of the night. We relaxed there in the fourth and to Loyola's credit they kept playing and they kept making shots."
 
With the win – Indiana State's first true road victory of the season – the Sycamores pull even in league play at 4-4 and have now won three consecutive games. The team tallied 10 steals and for the fourth time in six games turned in a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. But the Trees also gained a valuable lesson, one that often only comes in defeat.
 
"That's the biggest thing, playing with a lead and learning how to do that," added Keister. "This was good for us tonight. It was a good lesson to learn that when you are up, you cannot relax against anyone in this league because everyone is playing hard. Hopefully, we won't see that again from our group."
 
Loyola, which shot 41.4 percent from the field, was led by Abby O'Connor's 17 points while Katie Salmon added 16.
 
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