TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State had three score in double digits and held the visiting Panthers to just five points in the third quarter in a 79-43 win over Davenport Sunday afternoon in front of 1,606 at the Hulman Center.
 
The win, Indiana State's second straight home victory, closes out the non-conference schedule and lifts the Sycamores' record to 6-5 entering conference play at Missouri State next Friday.
 
Tamara Lee led all scorers with 17 points while Ashli O'Neal scored 16 (nine of which came from 3-point range). Ty Battle, who made her first start of the season, scored a season-high 11 points.
 
Davenport (3-8) did not make it easy on the host Trees, however. The Panthers led most of the first quarter and only Regan Wentland long-range shot pulled ISU within one as the buzzer sounded.  
 
Despite a sluggish start, Indiana State used a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (a season first for the Sycamores) that paired a season-high 18 assists with a season-low 12 turnovers to vault ISU in the contest.
 
"I think they worked hard in trying to finding each other, and that was one of our keys to the game, taking care of the golden egg," Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall said of her team's season-low 12 turnovers. "We're leading the country in turnovers. We are top 20 and that's a top 20 I would like to get out of. That's something we are going to really focus on, we've been focusing on it, but it's going to become more of an emphasis as time goes on."
 
The Sycamores used that Wentland 3-point basket to post a 16-12 scoring advantage in the second quarter, giving Indiana State a three-point lead at halftime. When the second half started, it was all Indiana State.
 
ISU shot 53.8 percent and outscored Davenport 24-5 in the third quarter to race out to a lead that was impossible to catch up to. Jenna Falkenberg, who led Davenport with 14 points, only managed one layup in six attempts in the third quarter. Her performance was emblematic of the Panthers as a whole as the team shot just 11.1 percent from the field as Indiana State's pressure defense squeezed tighter and tighter.
 
"I think we came out and played with even more energy," Hall said of her team's second half performance. "I think we got a couple steals and the easy baskets. This year we have to be able to press and get easy buckets. Because we naturally don't score the ball really well. It's not our gift of this team. So we have to manufacture points. In order to manufacture points, we've got to play tough D. We've got to turn them over."
 
That pressure continued into the fourth quarter, forcing 13 turnovers in the second half alone out of Davenport's 24 total turnovers.  
 
The Sycamores utilized their entire bench with a constant large second half lead, allowing every player dressed in a uniform to log at least five minutes of time on the court. An important boost as conference play awaits Indiana State, starting Friday at Missouri State.
 
"It's good for morale," Hall opined. "To be honest with you, we practiced well the last couple of days. We had two a days, on the 27th, on the 28th. You know what, I don't really like getting beat by 30. And then we had a 2 hour and 15-minute practice yesterday. Everybody came, and gave effort. I didn't have to talk about effort. That right there is what I'm talking about, that's culture."
 
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