Indiana State University Athletics

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – There's plenty new to see when Indiana State's women's basketball program returns to the floor in the new year Friday evening at the Hulman Center.
 
Josh Keister has taken the reigns as the interim head coach of the Sycamores. Ashley Taia has returned from her native Australia and rejoined the team. Even the team's desire to win has only been intensified over the tumultuous few days.
 
"No one is going to feel sorry for us," junior forward Regan Wentland said. "So we have to come together and fight for 40 minutes in every game we have left. We have to come together for ourselves and fight."
 
That fight begins at 7 p.m. on Friday when Evansville visits the Hulman Center. The game will be broadcast live on The Valley on ESPN3 and on the Sycamore Radio Network (1230AM WIBQ in the Wabash Valley).
 
SERIES HISTORY
Even with last season's Evansville sweep of the series ending a four-game win streak for the Sycamores, Indiana State still holds a healthy 34-17 lead in the all-time series against the Purple Aces, including a 19-7 mark in games played in Terre Haute.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Ashli O'Neal scored nine points and Wendi Bibbins brought down 12 rebounds but fourth quarter struggles reared their ugly heads again as Indiana State bid adieu to the 2017 calendar year with a 64-45 loss to Southern Illinois at the Hulman Center Sunday afternoon.
 
Indiana State (2-11, 0-2 Missouri Valley) claimed their first lead of the game with under two minutes to play in the third quarter thanks to a basket and a free throw by Bibbins but SIU (7-6, 2-0) would mount a 17-4 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes to pull away and put the game out of reach.
 
The Sycamores almost stopped SIU after 10 points in that run as AJ Thomas and Regan Wentland each scored a basket on either side of a reverse layup by SIU's Makenzie Silvey and the Saluki run seemed to wane, even come to a complete stop. But back-to-back baskets by Southern Illinois' Abby Brockmeyer – who led all players with 16 points – restarted the Saluki engine.
 
JOSH KEISTER NAMED INTERIM COACH
Josh Keister was named the interim head coach at Indiana State on Jan. 2 following the resignation of Joey Wells. Keister, who has previous head coaching experience at Missouri Western and previously held a recruiting coordinator title while serving as an assistant coach at TCU, was named the interim coach by Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales. Wells completed his tenure at Indiana State with a record of 44-59. A national search for the eighth head coach in program history begins immediately.
 
LOOKING AT EVANSVILLE
One of the best shooting teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, Evansville ranks 71st nationally and second in The Valley in field goal percentage (.435). But don't foul them to take away their shooting ability - as dangerous as they are from the field, they are deadly from the line, ranking second in the nation (first in The Valley) in free throw shooting (.836).
 
At 3-10 on the year, Evansville enters Friday's game looking to put an end to a four-game skid and they have lost eight of their last nine games this year.
 
The Purple Aces have three players - Hannah Noe (15.4), Kerri Gasper (12.5) and Brooke Dossett (11.8) - scoring over 10 points a game but Gasper is the only player on their roster averaging more than five rebounds per game.
 
CAN'T CATCH A BREAK
Indiana State is seemingly on a run of facing great shooting opponents from deep. Entering this game, ISU is now facing its sixth straight opponent that enters the game shooting over 30 percent from beyond the arc. Even more challenging, four of those six opponents are shooting over 37.5 percent from downtown.
 

Date	Opponent	Opp 3FG%
12/9	Central Michigan	.419
12/19	Miami (Ohio)	.446
12/21	Butler	.324
12/29	Missouri State	.379
12/31	Southern Illinois	.316
01/05	Evansville	.396

 
THIEVING TREES
State doesn't discriminate. It takes and it takes and it takes. Credit the Sycamores as they enter this game ranked 67th in the nation and first in The Valley in steals per game (9.9) and 86th in the nation in steals (129), ranking second in The Valley.
 
CAUGHT IN HER WEBB
One need look no farther than the recent theft skills of Tierra Webb to see why ISU is so successful as a team in steals. Over her last seven games, Webb has registered 15 steals (out of her 19 steals this season) and has swiped multiple steals in four out of those seven games.
 
Webb Steals

Date	Opponent	Steals
11/30	at UIC	4
12/7	at Illinois	2
12/9	Central Michigan	4
12/19	Miami (Ohio)	0
12/21	Butler	3
12/29	Missouri State	0
12/31	Southern Illinois	1
	Total (7 games)	14

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