TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Tamara Lee led all scorers with 19 points but was seemingly the only hot hand for Indiana State Sunday as the Sycamores dropped a 71-51 decision to Northern Iowa in front of 1,564 fans in a Missouri Valley Conference match-up at Hulman Center.
 
But while Lee was hot – hitting 8 of 13 shots from the floor – the rest of the Sycamores (9-10, 3-5) struggled to find a spark. The senior guard shot a career-best 61.5 percent from the floor but was backed up by just a 27 percent shooting mark by the rest of the team. That included a 4-for-9 day by Daijah Smith, who was the only other ISU player to reach double figures with 10 points.
 
But Northern Iowa (12-7, 5-2) was just as hot as Lee, shooting 54 percent from the field as a team and out-scoring the host Sycamores in every quarter except for the third quarter, which ended with a one-point advantage for ISU.
 
That third period was a reversal of fortunes for both teams. Indiana State hit nearly 47 percent of their shots and cut an 18-point deficit down to single digits while the visiting Panthers were just 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) from the floor. Regan Wentland scored six of her eight points in those 10 minutes alone and ISU seemed poised to threaten a UNI team that has won four of its last five games in conference play.
 
But as the final quarter got underway, the pendulum swung back to its original position. Indiana State's defense, despite forcing 21 turnovers, allowed the Panthers to once again shoot over 50 percent in the quarter. Timeouts, different lineups and words of coaching couldn't ignite the defense of Friday that threatened Drake's win streak or an offense that couldn't get a roll to fall its way.
 
Lee scored eight of her 19 points in the second half and her 3-point shot in the third quarter marked the first long-range basket of the game for the Sycamores. She has now reached double figures in three of her last four games.
 
"T(amara) Lee can shoot the ball and we work hard to try to get her open looks," Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall said of the fifth-year transfer into the program. "She's the only one who shot over 50 percent for our whole team today. T-Lee works hard on her shooting, she goes into the gym, this is her craft. She's a master of her craft."
 
"We are making progress, it's just hard. But we are making progress, you can see that we've gotten better at certain things but you know I'm a perfectionist. And I'm not going to make any excuses about it," Hall added.
 
Indiana State will close out the first half of Missouri Valley Conference play with a 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT tip at Evansville on Friday, Feb. 1 on ESPN+.
 
"You better believe that I haven't packed it in and I'll be at practice Tuesday at 2:30 at the gym, ready for us to do what we need to do, to continue to get better not only for Evansville, but the last 10 games of the season. I'm not one that waves a white flag ever," stated Hall.
 
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