EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sycamore freshman Caitlin Anderson had a career-night off the bench, giving Indiana State the spark they needed to put away Evansville on Friday evening, 70-58.
 
With the season sweep of the Purple Aces, ISU improved to 5-23 and 3-13 in the Missouri Valley Conference while Evansville fell to 3-24, 0-16 in the Valley.
 
Anderson had a stellar night for the Blue & White, tallying a career-high 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting while also going a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe. The freshman also chipped-in a career-high eight rebounds as well as two assists and two steals.   
 
"I knew somebody was going to have to step-up and I just carried it over from the last game to now," Anderson said. "I'm going to keep practicing hard and working hard; getting into the gym when I have free time so I can stay up on my game."
 
Junior Marie Hunter also contributed heavily to the Sycamores offensive effort, recording 16 points to go along with five rebounds. Jasmine Elder also crossed the double-digit threshold with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
"Caitlin Anderson did a phenomenal job stepping up with a career-high and we had Marie [Hunter] probably with a career-high as well," head coach Vicki Hall said. "This is the second game in-a-row that both of them have stepped up and really helped us and so we just want to make sure we continue to build on that with our last two home games of the season and heading into the tournament."
 
ISU was dominant on the glass, holding a 48-39 advantage over the Purple Aces, including 14 rebounds on the offensive end. CeCe Mayo led the Sycamore effort by pulling down 10 rebounds of her own.
 
The game was won for the Sycamores, however, at the free throw line. Entering the game with the worst free throw percentage in the MVC of 61.2 percent, the Blue & White knocked down 25 of their 30 attempts for a season-best 83.3 percent. Evansville, on the other hand, finished the game 14-of-22 for 63.6 percent.
 
Entering the fourth quarter with just a one-point advantage, the Trees made sure to take control early in the period, using a 9-2 run, which included four from Hunter, to gain a 54-46 lead with 6:05 on the game clock. Anderson then put up four-consecutive points and found Elder behind the arc to give ISU their biggest lead of the game at 61-50 with 2:57 left.
 
Anderson then solidified the game for the Sycamores, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 1:45 to help Indiana State to the 70-58 victory.
 
Both teams found themselves in a defensive battle early on in the game, with only four points being scored by Evansville by the 4:48 mark in the period. Following the media timeout, the Sycamore offense started to warm up, as Hattie Westerfeld ended the drought with two free throws with 4:39 remaining. Then, facing a 10-10 tie, Anderson put up five points over the last 1:13 of the quarter, paired with a Hunter layup as time expired, to help the Sycamores gain a 15-10 advantage at the end of one.
 
The Trees continued to hold the advantage early in the second quarter, as Hunter converted on a pair of jumpers to help ISU to a 21-17 lead with 7:12 on the clock. Evansville then found their groove on the offensive side of the ball, using a 10-0 run to take a 27-21 lead at 2:53. Sommer Pitzer would answer, immediately knocking down a triple on the next possession to pull the Sycamores back within three. At the half, both teams were locked at 27.
 
Coming out of halftime, Indiana State pushed their lead to five following a Del'Janae Williams free throw at 7:14. The Purple Aces would respond, knocking down four free throws to close the gap to 32-31 with 6:06 on the clock. Continuing the trend of the game, Anderson would come through for the Trees when ISU needed a bucket. The freshman knocked down two-straight jumpers before Pearl Dean converted a layup off of an offensive rebound to make it 40-33 with 3:01 remaining.
 
Evansville put together a 7-0 run to once again even the game at 40 with 1:31 remaining, but Anderson would end the run after getting into the paint for a layup. ISU would go on to hold a 45-44 advantage at the conclusion of the period, and the rest is elementary.
 
The Purple Aces were led by Abby Feit who ended with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Indiana State now returns home next weekend for their final two regular season games, hosting Bradley on Thursday and Illinois State on Saturday.
 
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.