TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Tamara Lee scored 19 points and Ty Battle grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds but a shortened bench for Indiana State played pivotal in dropping an 80-61 Missouri Valley Conference contest Thursday night to Southern Illinois.
 
The Sycamores (11-17, 5-12), missing five players due to injuries and dressing just eight, held close with the Salukis for the better part of three quarters. Southern Illinois (14-14, 7-10) clinched the No. 6 seed in next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with the win.
 
"Today was kind of an interesting game we had a lot less players than we normally do," said Indiana State Head Coach Vicki Hall. "I'm not one for excuses but, it's getting kind of tough, it's getting kind of thin. We are going to do the best we can and we are going to fight as much as we can, but we're short in the post realm and that was definitely proven in the post scoring and in the rebound margin."
 
The depth-challenged Sycamores struggled to contain Saluki forward Nicole Martin, who scored a game-high 23 points. She would contribute heavily to SIU's 40 points in the paint.
 
"For what we had, what we did and what we're trying to do, we made it a game for three quarters. The problem is that we don't have an answer for the inside," lamented Hall.
 
But for the disparity in roster size, Indiana State still made it a game well into the second half. Trailing only by four at halftime, SIU would use a 9-2 run to extend its lead into double digits but would never seem fully in control as the pesky Sycamores would continue to hang around. The deficit would grow to 15 in the third quarter before a late third quarter run that carried into the fourth cut the margin to eight.
 
Credit the scoring ability of Ashli O'Neal to keep Indiana State within striking distance as she scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half.
 
A 5-0 Saluki run in the fourth quarter would push the ISU deficit back into double digits forcing Indiana State to call a timeout to settle. Initially, it worked as O'Neal came out of the timeout quickly scoring a pull-up jumper in the paint with 6:29 to go. But SIU would pull away following that shot as the Sycamores would not make another field goal in the game, missing their last eight field goal attempts over the final 6:20 in the contest.
 
Southern Illinois, meanwhile, would hit all four field goal attempts and go 4-for-6 from the line to prevent any kind of late game heroics.
 
Indiana State wraps up the regular season and a three-game home stand as the Sycamores host Missouri State on Saturday at 2 p.m. It is Senior Day at Hulman Center with a postgame ceremony honoring the program's six seniors slated as part of the regular season finale's events.  
 
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.