VALPARAISO, Ind. – For the second straight game, Ashli O'Neal led all players with over 20 points. And for the second straight weekend, Indiana State busted out the brooms.
 
O'Neal tied a career high 22 points and Indiana State swept its second straight weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play with a 67-54 win at Valparaiso Sunday afternoon.
 
The sweep marked the first time the Sycamores (7-13, 5-4) have swept two consecutive weekends of Valley play since the 2013-14 season.
 
But unlike Friday's 73-65 win at Loyola where the host Ramblers turned a blowout into a close game, Sunday's Sycamore squad responded with strength. Valparaiso (10-10, 3-6), a team that entered Sunday's game with an impressive 8-1 home record, cut a 24-point deficit to 11 before Indiana State responded with an 8-0 run.
 
"The nice thing is we were in the same position today, in the fourth quarter with a nice lead," Indiana State interim head coach Josh Keister said. "We learned a quick lesson the other night. Valpo hit a couple shots that got it down to 11 but we didn't call timeout, we played through it and we ended up scoring eight straight points to get the lead back up to 19. The kids and the team really responded. That is a great sign and I am just extremely proud of this group."
 
And the defensive effort and tenacity that has come to define this team since Keister took over the program on Jan. 5 came shone through on the court again. The Sycamores forced 16 turnovers by the host Crusaders – a full quarter of them coming off Tierra Webb's four steals – and outscored Valpo 20-4 in points off turnovers.
 
"It was an outstanding win by our team today," said Keister. "We played extremely well from start to finish. We didn't shoot it really well, obviously, but we've talked about winning different ways and I thought defensively we were outstanding. We guarded Valpo well - who is a really good offensive team - and that was really the big difference in the game."
 
While the Sycamores as a whole did not shoot well – Indiana State was 19 of 65 from the field (29.2 percent) – Webb was a spark plug on both ends of the floor. The junior guard scored 15 points and was credited with an assist Sunday.
 
She supplemented O'Neal's second straight 20-point performance (22 points on six field goals while going a perfect 8-for-8 from the line) as Indiana State controlled the game from start to finish.
 
Valparaiso, which scored 101 points in their home win Friday over Evansville, was only 20 for 67 from the field (29.9 percent) and a paltry 4-for-27 (14.8 percent) from behind the arc, well below their 36 percent average. The Crusaders were led by Dani Franklin's 16 points and 16 rebounds.
 
Sunday's game marked the first between the two teams since Valparaiso joined the Missouri Valley Conference this season. Indiana State remains undefeated (4-0) all-time against the Crusaders in Valparaiso.
 
Now halfway through league play, the Sycamores now begin the back part of the conference schedule as teams begin jockeying in earnest for seeding at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on March 8-11 in the Quad Cities.
 
"We want to continue to improve, Keister said of his team's approach to the final stretch of the regular season. "I think the biggest thing you can see with our team right now is we are gaining confidence as we play. I love the way we are playing right now at both ends of the floor. It is great to see the results come in because of that. We just want to keep getting better here at the turn. We have nine games left and a lot of those are going to be on the road. To come and get two road wins this week when we didn't have any before is a big bonus for us."
 
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