MOLINE, Ill. –
Mya Glanton had a career-high 26 points along with a game-high 12 rebounds Thursday evening, leading eighth-seeded Indiana State past ninth-seeded Evansville, 89-75, in the opening round of Hoops in the Heartland at the TaxSlayer Center.
Marie Hunter added a career-high 23 points, while
Arianna Smith had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Sycamores, who won their first conference tournament game since 2014.
Indiana State jumped out to an early double-digit lead and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire. The Sycamores pounded the paint inside for 54 points and committed a season-low eight turnovers, while Evansville never got closer than nine points in the final three quarter.
First Half
Hunter opened the scoring with a layup as part of a 7-0 Sycamore run to begin the game, but Glanton stole the show in the first quarter. The redshirt sophomore forward nearly outscored Evansville on her own in the opening period, finishing with 12 points in the first 10 minutes. A
Del'Janae Williams 3-pointer, one of her two baskets from long range in the quarter, pushed Indiana State's lead to double-digits midway through the quarter, 14-4. Evansville got within five with three minutes to go in the quarter, but Glanton scored six in the final 2:39 to push the Sycamore lead back to 10 after the opening quarter, 24-14.
The Sycamores continued their attack on the baskets early in the second quarter, with Hunter having the hot hand early on. Hunter scored Indiana State's first nine points of the second quarter, including a 3-pointer to push the lead to 15, 31-16, forcing an Evansville timeout in the process. Indiana State answered each Evansville basket with one of its own, including a Williams 3-pointer to make it 42-27 in favor of the Sycamores with 1:26 left. Evansville closed the half with back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Sycamores took a 42-33 lead into the intermission.
Second Half
Smith did most of her damage in the third quarter, scoring 11 in the period as Evansville had no answer for her down low in the 10-minute frame. The MVC All-Freshman Team selection got it going early, scoring two of Indiana State's first three baskets of the quarter. Evansville got within nine points on multiple occasions in the quarter, but the Sycamores had an answer every time the Purple Aces cut the lead to single-digits. Smith converted a three-point play late in the quarter, followed by a Hunter layup that put the Sycamore lead into double-digits for good. Indiana State took a 63-50 lead into the fourth quarter.
Indiana State continued to attack down low in the fourth quarter, with Glanton scoring the first six Sycamore points of the final frame. A Williams driving layup followed by a pair of
Caitlin Anderson free throws pushed Indiana State's lead to 17 points at 73-56, its largest of the game. Evansville cut the Sycamore lead to 11 near the midway point of the quarter and a Purple Aces 3-pointer with 4:31 to go made it a 77-67 game. The Sycamores continued to create scoring opportunities in the final four minutes, both in the paint and at the free throw line, to keep hold of their lead. Indiana State went 12-for-13 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter to seal an 89-75 win and advance to Friday's quarterfinals.
Inside the Statistics
- Indiana State had three different players set career-highs in scoring in Thursday's game (Mya Glanton - 26, Marie Hunter - 23, Arianna Smith - 17).
- Mya Glanton's 26-point, 12-rebound game was her third 20-10 game of the season (Western Michigan, Valparaiso).
- Indiana State shot a season-best 52.2 percent from the field in Thursday's opening round.
- Arianna Smith has scored in double-figures in each of the last four games.
News & Notes
- Indiana State's opening round win was its first conference tournament win since 2014 and also the first Sycamore conference tournament win since the event moved to Moline.
- The 89 points scored Thursday were a season-high for the Sycamores, besting their previous high of 88 in the season opener against Stephens College. Indiana State's previous high against a Division I opponent was 85 against Valparaiso.
- The 89 points scored are also the ninth-most by a single team in MVC tournament history. It also matches the scoring output in last year's opening round game against Southern Illinois.
- Thursday's game was the first time this season that Indiana State had multiple 20-point scorers in the same game (Mya Glanton and Marie Hunter).
Postgame Press Conference (Head Coach Chad Killinger, Mya Glanton, Marie Hunter)
Up Next
Indiana State will take on top-seeded Southern Illinois Friday at 1 p.m. in the first quarterfinal game of Hoops in the Heartland.
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