TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State plays its first of two straight home games to close the regular season Thursday evening when it welcomes Northern Iowa to the Hulman Center. Tipoff between the Sycamores and Panthers is set for 6 p.m. and will be carried live on ESPN+ and GoSycamores.com
 

Women's Basketball vs. Northern Iowa
Date	Wednesday, March 3 | 6 p.m. ET
Location // Venue	Terre Haute, Ind. // Hulman Center (9,000)
Preview Info	Indiana State Notes // Northern Iowa Notes
Live Stats	Live Stat Feed
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	GoSycamores.com
Social Media	@IndStWBB // @IndStAthletics
Game Day Guidelines	Hulman Center Guidelines

 
Last Time Out
Indiana State scored 26 points in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, but the Sycamores' comeback attempt fell just short against Missouri State inside JQH Arena, 72-65.
 
Natalia Lalic led the way for the Sycamores with 17 points, finishing as one of four Indiana State players in double-figures. Arianna Smith tied her career high with 15 points, while Marie Hunter and Anna McKendree added 13 and 10, respectively.
 
Indiana State got off to a quick start with 15 points in the first six minutes, but struggled to find consistency on the offensive end in the second and third quarters. Facing a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Sycamores put together a frantic rally in the final frame. Indiana State was able to cut it to a two-possession game late, but just ran out of time.
 
A Closer Look at Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa enters the week at 18-9 overall and 9-5 in conference play. The Panthers have won each of their last two games, defeating both Bradley and Illinois State at home last week.
 
Karli Rucker leads the Panthers in scoring at 12.9 points per game, while also dishing out a team-high 88 assists. Kam Finley is also in dobule-figures at 12.0 points per game. Bre Gunnels (8.6), Grace Boffeli (8.4) and Emerson Green (8.2) all average at least eight points per game, with Boffeli also pulling down a team-leading 8.9 rebounds per game.
 
Gunnels had a team-high 19 points in Northern Iowa's last game, a 70-63 win over Illinois State. Boffeli added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers. UNI outscored Illinois State 23-15 in the third quarter to pull away in what was a tie game at the half.
 
Series History Against Missouri State
Indiana State has a 42-38 in the all-time series
between the schools, though Northern Iowa has won each of the last three games. UNI won the first meeting between the teams this season in Cedar Falls, 72-49. Indiana State's last win over Northern Iowa came during the 2019-20 season, a 65-63 win in Terre Haute.
 
Natalia Lalic and Mya Glanton led the Sycamores with eight points apiece when these teams met at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls in February. Indiana State hit five of its first six shots in that game, but Northern Iowa scored 22 in the first and outscored Indiana State 20-8 in the third to take control of the first meeting this season.
 
Finding Range Down Under
Eight of Natalia Lalic's team-leading 37 3-pointers have come during a recent three-game stretch for Indiana State. The Australia native came off the bench to hit four treys against Valparaiso and added one more in her return to the starting lineup at Southern Illinois.
 
Lalic connected from deep three times in the Sycamores' most recent game at Missouri State, making one in three of the four quarters against the Lady Bears. She has made nearly 35 percent of her 3-point attempts during conference play, ranking inside the top 10 in the Valley.
 
Finding Balance
Indiana State had all five starters (Mya Glanton, Marie Hunter, Natalia Lalic, Arianna Smith and Del'Janae Williams) score at least seven points at Southern Illinois.
 
The game against the Salukis continued a season-long trend of not having a true top scoring option for Indiana State, as eight different players have led the Sycamores in scoring in a game this season.
 
Rebound Machine
Indiana State forward Mya Glanton has pulled down double-digit rebounds in three of the Sycamores' last four games. The sophomore post player grabbed 12 boards against Loyola Chicago and followed that with 14 against Valparaiso as part of a career day that also featured her scoring 25 points. She had a team-leading 10 boards Thursday against SIU.
 
The two most recent home games marked her two best rebounding games against a Valley opponent in her career, with the Valpo game marking her first 20-point, 10-rebound game in conference play. Glanton is averaging 12 rebounds per game during this three-game stretch.
 
Glanton leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 3.4 offensive rebounds per game during Valley play.
 
Back on Track
Senior guard Natalia Lalic came off the bench to score 16 points in Sunday's game against Valparaiso. The Australia native knocked down four 3-pointers against the Beacons, which tied a career high. In addition, she also added four assists, one block and one steal.
 
The 16-point outing snapped a streak of four games in single-digit scoring for Lalic, who is Indiana State's third-leading scorer among active players at 7.5 points per game. Her scoring numbers have jumped in conference play, where she is averaging 9.2 points per contest.
 
Proving to be more than just a scorer, Lalic tied her career high of five assists against Southern Illinois.
 
Senior Send-Off
This weekend's games will mark the final home games of the 2021-22 season and with that, will close the home careers for a trio of Sycamores.
 
Indiana State will honor Tonysha Curry, Marie Hunter and Essy Latu for their contributions to the program prior to Saturday's game against Drake.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Women's Basketball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.