TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – An emotional week turned into emotional play which resulted in an emotional win for Indiana State as the Sycamores shut down one of the Missouri Valley Conference's most dangerous shooting teams in a 56-48 win over Evansville at the Hulman Center Friday evening.
 
The win ended a seven-game losing streak for Indiana State (3-11, 1-2) and marked the team's first conference win in nine tries. And as Josh Keister made his debut as the interim head coach for the Sycamores, it was an emotional relief for the program's new leader.
 
"Well, that is a relief" Kesiter said following the win, "I'm really proud of our group tonight. We battled through that game. It was a great win for us. We've been talking to our team for a while that we're close, we feel like we're not that far away and for us to push through and get that win tonight and be the stronger team in the second half feels really good."
 
Wendi Bibbins led all players with 16 points to pace the Sycamores (3-11, 1-2). But it was her career-high five blocks and Indiana State's season-high 48 rebounds that provided plenty of excitement and emotion on the court.
 
"We are a different team when Wendi is on the floor and we do ask a lot of her. She stepped up big tonight like she has for us all season," Keister said of his starting center.
 
As if that wasn't enough, Ashley Taia made her return to The Valley. She triumphantly returned to form with 12 points, two steals and two assists, most of which came in the second half.
 
Forgive her if she was rusty in the first half. Taia spent the last month home in her native Australia with her father before he succumbed to cancer.
 
"I believe I was a little timid offensively but I tried to be effective in other aspects, defensively and trying to rebound more," Taia recalled. "I was just trying to get myself in the game in other ways, other than shooting. The second half it felt a lot better so I was just able to play."
 
The whole team, while not timid, seemed rusty in the first half. The Sycamores were just 6 of 38 (15.8 percent) from the field and had only 15 points at halftime. But a different energy permeated the Hulman Center going into intermission.
 
"We didn't feel that bad at halftime. We probably should have, with only 15 points," said Keister.
 
"We took a lot of good shots in the first half, we were just a little sluggish. We had 13 offensive boards so it was just a matter of time. Those shots were going to fall for us in the second half and obviously, they did. We scored 41 points in the third and fourth quarters and the kids just kept battling and battling. The energy kept coming. We had a huge effort on the offensive glass as a team with 22 offensive boards. We just gave ourselves a lot of second and third opportunities."
 
That second half witnessed Taia, among several others, step up offensively. In all, Indiana State had eight players log minutes with all eight contributing in some fashion. The Sycamores shot 38.9 percent in the third quarter and an impressive 46.7 percent in the final stanza, scoring a total of 41 second-half points.
 
Meanwhile Indiana State held an Evansville squad that averages more than 43 percent from the field to a 16-for-55 (29.1 percent) performance.
 
"It was outstanding defense," Keister beamed. "We knew Evansville could score, they are a sneaky team. They are very deceiving because they have so many weapons out there and if you make a mistake, most nights they will make you pay. If you foul them, it is going to be two points at the line. They are number two in the nation in free throw percentage. Our kids demonstrated tremendous discipline, defensively."
 
And as ISU's shots started falling – and Evansville's didn't – the emotion and energy became electric.
 
"We talked before the game that we wanted to start having some fun," explained Keister. "We wanted to play loose, we talked about being able to play hard, smile out there, let yourself go a little bit and play with some personality. It has been a tough week but all it did was confirm what we thought about our kids in the locker room the whole time - we have some tough kids, we have some tough competitors."
 
Evansville (3-11, 0-3) was led by Hannah Noe and Kelsi Scott's 10 points apiece.
 
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.