CHICAGO – Tamara Lee scored 18 points behind a handful of 3-pointers but Indiana State's rally fell short in a 56-54 loss at Loyola Chicago Sunday afternoon.
 
The Sycamores (9-8, 3-3 Missouri Valley) had a chance to go to overtime for a second consecutive game as Regan Wentland inbounded the ball to Ty Battle with 0.4 seconds on the clock but Battle's layup wouldn't fall as the final horn sounded.
 
Indiana State battled back from a 15-point deficit, drawing even on two different occasions in the final quarter but Loyola (9-7, 3-2) would never allow the Sycamores to take the lead. Credit a Rambler team that went 8-for-8 from the free throw line including a 6-for-6 effort in the final 19 seconds of play, all by Abby O'Connor, who tallied a team-leading 18 points.
 
The Sycamores were forced to rally back from a large deficit early on after shooting just 15.4 percent in the second quarter and taking a 28-16 deficit into halftime.
 
"I was really disappointed with our first half," Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall said. "We didn't come ready to play. Then in the second quarter, when our shots weren't falling even worse, we put our heads down and got ourselves in a big hole again."
 
"We need to play 40 minutes and we didn't do that," Hall added.
 
Lee, who tied a career-high with a handful of 3-pointers, was responsible for nine of ISU's 16 points in the first half and was nearly perfect (3-for-4) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
She did [find her stroke early on]," Hall remarked. "She was hot. She cooled off in the second half then Lex [Alexis Delgado] came in and hit a couple crucial 3s and that is important."
 
Delgado finished the game with nine points, scoring seven in the second half as Indiana State charged back into the game.
 
Lee, whose two free throws with 1.9 seconds left on Friday send the Sycamores into overtime, was unable to play hero once again as she only converted one of three free throws with 15 seconds to go, a crucial two points that could have tied the game.
 
Facing dwindling time and a deficit, the Sycamores were forced to foul in a game of possessions but the Ramblers kept the visitors at bay by not missing a free throw. Until this weekend, Sycamore opponents combined had the sixth-worst free throw percentage in the country but Loyola, ranking third nationally with a 79 percent success rate at the charity stripe, stayed true to form and even exceeded that number by failing to miss at the line.
 
Indiana State now returns home to host Drake (Jan. 25) and Northern Iowa (Jan. 27) at Hulman Center next weekend.
 
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