ST. LOUIS – Indiana State shot an amazing 70 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and outscored host Saint Louis by more than double in that final frame to overcome a 11-point fourth quarter deficit for a 60-56 win over the Billikens at Chaifetz Arena Tuesday.
 
Ashli O'Neal scored 13 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter and registered a career-high seven steals while matching a career-high six rebounds in leading Indiana State (2-0) back from an early deficit.
 
"She just gutted it out," Indiana State head coach Vicki Hall said of O'Neal's performance. "She did a great job of staying with it. At halftime everyone was a little disappointed but we talked about what we needed to do and how we needed to stay together and be just a little more patient. She was very resilient to the fact that she wanted us to win this game and she willed us to do it."
 
The Sycamores used that 70 percent shooting (7-for-10) from the field in the fourth quarter to whittle down an 11-point Billiken lead over the final nine minutes of the game. ISU would go on a 9-0 that was all O'Neal mixed in with one of Alexis Delgado's four 3-pointers to cut the Saint Louis lead to two.
 
"We started to pressure them a little bit more and we got some great steals," explained Hall. "Ashli O'Neal and all of the guards created a lot of different turnover situations and we were able to score in transition and make some easy layups. After that, they had a hard time guarding our ball screen offense because they kept trying to hedge. Once we changed the court a couple times, they couldn't stay in front."
 
Delgado would finish with 14 points and was one of four Sycamores with multiple steals against the Billikens (1-1).
 
An Amber Lindfors' jumper was the only thing that split that 9-0 run with the ensuing 12-0 Indiana State run that gave ISU a 54-46 lead, an eight-point margin from which Saint Louis would be unable to recover. Lindfors would lead Saint Louis with 12 points.
 
The Billikens twice would pull within two but fouled O'Neal on both occasions and the junior's 9-for-12 performance at the free throw line kept SLU at bay.
 
Lynn Tamis scored seven points and brought down five rebounds but four of each came in that pivotal fourth quarter.
 
Indiana State's second comeback in as many games this season was created due to another second half-opening run. Less than 30 seconds into the half the Trees went on a 9-2 run that cut their deficit to five and forced Saint Louis to burn a timeout.
 
A comeback was necessary as Saint Louis took a 25-15 lead into halftime, shutting down Indiana State's offense with seven blocks and holding the Sycamores to just 21.4 percent (6-for-28) shooting from the floor.
 
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