EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The most unselfish player on Indiana State's roster seemingly made it all about her from the very start Friday evening.
 
Regan Wentland scored a career-high 18 points, registered two blocks and was a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown as Indiana State (8-13, 6-4 Missouri Valley) won its fifth consecutive game with a 66-57 victory at Meeks Fieldhouse.
 
It was an impressive – and important – performance from the junior guard who was on fire while her teammates struggled to click offensively.
 
"She is a kid that is so unselfish for our team, does so many little things and has a big impact on the game without scoring," Indiana State interim coach Josh Keister said. "You could see in practice recently she has been gaining confidence in shooting the ball from the 3-point line. It came at a great time for us tonight, when we were struggling offensively."
 
Despite the fact that three other Sycamores reached double figures, including 16 points from the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, Ashli O'Neal, the Sycamores seemed out of sync. Indiana State shot 36.7 percent from the field but only shot 29.4 percent not including Wentland's 7-for-9 performance.
 
Numbers like that would make a coach cringe and force a team to feel added pressure. Yet Keister was all smiles and the Sycamores have never looked more relaxed in a fourth quarter this season.
 
Indiana State held Evansville (3-18, 0-10) at bay, even when the hosts refused to back down. But sometimes, even when things aren't going your way, confidence level can counteract being out of sync.
 
It was confidence that helped push Wentland into double figures for the first time this season.
 
"There was something about today where I felt like it was going to be my night," Wentland said. "Everyone is always harping on me to shoot. I think a lot of it was taking the open shots, being comfortable and being confident."
 
Wentland's big game wasn't all from her, however. Indiana State recorded a season-high 16 assists against Division I competition Friday evening, including an assist on all seven of Wentland's field goals.
 
And the Sycamores refused to back down. Indiana State outscored Evansville in every quarter, a first against a Division I opponent this year.
 
"That's something we talk about in the huddle at the end of each quarter, that we need to win the next quarter," Keister said. "We were obviously able to do that tonight. Our kids did a lot of good things. We had to fight for everything. It wasn't always pretty and it is nice to win a game like that."
 
And while the Sycamores struggled from the field, that just fueled the team's fire on the defensive end of the court. Indiana State registered 12 steals and blocked seven shots, forcing Evansville into 19 turnovers.
 
Despite a cold stretch in the fourth quarter, that defense didn't allow the margin to drop below seven.
 
"Our mindset is definitely changed," said Keister. "The winning part has obviously helped that. We've had some success, we're starting to get some wins under our belt and when you get that feeling then it changes your whole mindset. Hopefully we can continue to do that."
 
Tierra Webb added 11 points and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and Ashley Taia added 10 points. Wendi Bibbins led the Trees with 10 rebounds while getting credit for three blocks and three steals.
 
Evansville was led by Kerri Gasper's double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Kelsi Scott added 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Purple Aces dropped their 12^th straight game while Indiana State claimed its third road win in three tries.
 
"We've had three straight games on the road and are just thrilled that we were able to get out of here alive tonight," Keister said. "Evansville played hard, they played tough. It could have been easy for them to lay down because of some of their recent games and injuries but they made it really hard on us. We didn't play always so pretty but the final score is the thing that matters."
 
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