TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Ty Battle scored a career-high 21 points and joined Regan Wentland in recording a double-double as Indiana State pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 67-59 win over Valparaiso Sunday afternoon at the Hulman Center.
 
For Battle, one-third (seven) of her 21 points came in the fourth quarter alone as Indiana State (11-13, 5-8 Missouri Valley) out-scored Valpo by eight in the final frame. The Sycamores would use a hot shooting percentage of nearly 54 percent in the last quarter to pull away, holding Valparaiso (6-19, 2-11) to just a 38.5 percent clip.
 
"I'm proud of the team to hold on to the lead that we got," Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall said. "It has been tough for us all year long to do that. It's been a battle. It's been one of the first games that we've won that we haven't had to call some kind of sideline out of bounds play or make some kind of miracle basket. They are learning piece by piece how get a lead, how to keep a lead and what does it take to do it."
 
Battle led all scorers with her 21 points while her 11 rebounds notched her third career double-double. Wentland mimicked the effort with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Alexis Delgado hit a trio of 3-pointers as part of a 13-point performance. It marked the first time in four years Indiana State has had multiple players register a double-double in the same game.
 
"Those two kids have played so well together," Hall said of the double-doubles by both Battle and Wentland. "Ty has slowly but surely kept growing and growing. I think she's just kind of touching the surface of what she's capable of. I'm very excited for her and how she played and she rebounded the ball too. Double-doubles are wonderful especially coming from that post area and Regan and Ty both had them."
 
The fourth quarter difference came as the Sycamores went on a 13-0 run, holding the Crusaders scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes and without a field goal for nearly six full minutes. During that 13-0 run, Indiana State forced three turnovers and pressured Valpo to miss five field goal attempts and a free throw before the second half of a trip to the charity stripe ended the drought.
 
But at that point, Indiana State's suffocating defense had done its damage. They now held a lead that they would not relent and would only drop under double-digits on a last-second three by Valpo that went in right before the game clock expired.
 
The ability of Battle and Wentland to perform at such a high level may have come from a little added depth to the post for ISU. Kierra Isaiah made her first appearance since mid-January following a hand injury as she grabbed three rebounds and scored four points in over 12 minutes played in her return.
 
We aren't a really big team right now. Kierra gives energy and she's an important force for us on this team because she's an energy giver. That helps us and is necessary for our team. We don't really have a lot of people that have a lot of high energy.
 
Indiana State will hit the road for one last trip during the regular season when the Sycamores play at Northern Iowa (Feb. 22) and Drake (Feb. 24) next weekend.
 
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.