HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Throughout the preseason, new Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall has stressed hard work and patience as she begins to rebuild the Sycamore program. When the 2018-19 season tipped off at Marshall Wednesday night, she still needed patience.
 
Indiana State (1-0) would overcome a five-point halftime deficit with a 20-3 run and withstood a late push by Marshall (0-1) to secure the 62-53 win over the Thundering Herd in front of 764 fans at the Cam Henderson Center.
 
"I am really proud of our young ladies," said Hall after her first career win. "They played hard tonight. We went through some ups and downs and it didn't matter - they kept fighting. We did a great job on the boards with 48 rebounds.
 
Regan Wentland posted her first career double-double and two other Sycamores reached double figures as Hall claimed a win in her first game as a head coach.
 
"Regan just played hard," Hall said. "She played really hard and she's smart. When there were different openings she cut back door and we were able to hit her and she was able to finish. She's playing with confidence and she deserves to because she has earned that.
 
But it was hardly just the senior leadership of Wentland (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Alexis Delgado (13 points that propelled the Sycamores. Nine different players saw more than 10 minutes of playing time. That came as no surprise as ISU was whistled for 14 fouls in the first half with five different Sycamores called for multiple fouls.
 
As the fouls mounted and players got into foul trouble – such as Ashli O'Neal receiving her second foul less than three minutes into the game – Indiana State and Hall was forced to utilize different personnel combinations on the floor. But it worked as Delgado (eight first half points) found her stroke and Wentland (seven first half rebounds) refused to be denied.
 
Trailing only 30-25 at half, the Sycamores came out firing on all cylinders. ISU quickly took the lead as they started the third quarter on a 20-3 run, forcing Marshall to burn two timeouts in the process. And as the Sycamore offense got hot – ISU was 7 of 13 from the field during that run – the defense became suffocating. The ladies in blue brought down 13 rebounds, blocked two shots and were credited with a steal over that 20-3 run, a stretch that lasted almost eight minutes, 30 seconds of playing time.
 
"I think a big part of that was we got Ashli O'Neal back into the game," Hall said of the second half run. "She does a great job for us. She is able to hit gaps and get to the rim. That really created a lot of havoc for them where later on they had to do some different things defensively. We ended up having some answers for that so it was good."
 
That wouldn't be the only critical run for Indiana State in the game. Marshall cut the lead to three with under eight minutes to play before a Wentland layup ended the Herd's 7-0 run. O'Neal followed with a pull-up jumper and Delgado knocked down one of her three 3-pointers on the night to push the Sycamore lead back out to 10 with 3:21 to go.
 
"Her contribution was huge," Hall said of Delgado. "We have three people in double figures and Tamara Lee had nine, so almost four people in double figures. That just really helps us. Especially when Ashli went out, that changed the momentum because I prefer to play Alexis at the two where she can really shoot it. She ended up getting it done."
 
Marshall cut that lead back down to six before O'Neal hit critical free throws down the stretch – 3 of 4 – to secure the win. O'Neal would finish with 11 points, seven of which came from the free throw line.
 
The Herd was led by Khadaijia Brooks's 16 points while Shayna Gore, the Herd's leading scorer from last year, was limited to 12 points and a 3-for-14 performance from the floor.
 
Indiana State returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 13 when the Sycamores play at Saint Louis. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT.
 
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.