TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State plays its first home game since the calendar turned to 2023 when it welcomes Drake to Hulman Center Saturday afternoon for a 1 p.m. tip. The game will be carried on ESPN3 and 105.5 The Legend.
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Last Time Out
Indiana State's two-game road win streak was snapped, as the Sycamores dropped a 65-54 decision to Evansville inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
Chelsea Cain led all scorers with 18 and was one of three Sycamores to grab a team-high five rebounds. Cain also reached the 1,000-point mark for her collegiate career.
Del'Janae Williams had 15 points and five boards, while
Bella Finnegan finished with eight points.
Indiana State got off to a strong start, but Evansville flipped the script after the opening quarter. The Sycamores trailed by double-digits in the third, but Williams and Cain led the Trees on a comeback charge, cutting their deficit to one possession in the fourth. Shots didn't fall for the Blue and White in the final frame, though, as the home side held on in front of a frenzied crowd.
Welcome to the Club
Chelsea Cain finished with a game-high 18 points at Evansville and, in the process, hit 1,000 points for her collegiate career with a layup in the first quarter.
Cain scored 857 points in three seasons at Nicholls State and has 159 points for the Sycamores this year, giving her 1,016 career points. Cain has a chance to add on to that total in a big way, as she still has the rest of this season and all of next season to increase that total.
Milestone Watch
Two members of the Indiana State women's basketball programs are nearing career milestones, with one having a chance of occurring Wednesday.
Del'Janae Williams is also closing in on 1,000 career points, as she is currently 123 points away from reaching the milestone with at least 16 games left on the schedule. Williams would be the 29th player in program history to reach the mark and would be the first Sycamore since Racheal Mahan in the 2014-15 season to accomplish the feat all at Indiana State.
Head coach
Chad Killinger is also nearing a career milestone on the sidelines, as the Sycamore leader needs just three wins to reach 300 for his head coaching career.
Starting Off Strong
Despite the setback Wednesday night at Evansville, there were still bright spots for the Sycamores in the finale of their three-game road trip.
Indiana State jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the game and led 13-2 midway through the first quarter. The Sycamores hit five of their first seven shots, with 10 of their first 13 points coming in the paint. Indiana State also forced seven turnovers in the opening quarter, marking the second time in the last three games that the Sycamores forced seven first-quarter turnovers (seven at UIC).
Three's Company
Good things have come in threes for the Sycamores this season. Indiana State is a perfect 4-0 this season when three or more players have scored in double-figures.
Conversely, the Sycamores are 3-7 when fewer than three players score in double-figures. Two of those three wins came during Indiana State's recent road trip at UIC and Valparaiso.
Home Sweet Home
Indiana State is seeking its first home conference win this season in its first home game in two weeks. The Sycamores have yet to play a game inside Hulman Center since the start of the new year.
Indiana State was 5-2 at home during the non-conference portion of its season, with wins over Saint Louis, Central Michigan, Chicago State, Purdue Fort Wayne and Detroit Mercy.
Road Trip to Remember
A pair of Indiana State student-athletes stepped up for the Blue and White during the Sycamores' recent three-game road trip, as
Alona Blackwell and
Lily Niebuhr both had their best games of the season during the stretch of games away from home.
Blackwell had seven points, three assists and three steals in the win over Valpo, while Niebhur had four points and two rebounds in the win over UIC.
Drake at a Glance
Drake enters the weekend at 8-5 overall and 3-2 in MVC play. The Bulldogs lost a nailbiting 70-69 contest to Northern Iowa at home in their last game.
Maggie Bair leads a high-powered Drake offense with 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Grace Berg (13.5), Megan Meyer (12.9), Katie Dinnebier (11.6) and Sarah Beth Gueldner (11.2) are all averaging in double-figures for the Bulldogs, who average 82.5 points per game. Drake will be without Meyer, though, as she will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury
Allison Pohlman is in her second season as the head coach at Drake after previously spending 14 seasons on the Bulldog coaching staff, first as an assistant coach and then as associate head coach. Pohlman guided Drake to the third round of the WNIT in her first season as head coach.
Series History Against Drake
Drake has a 61-24 advantage in the all-time series, with 17 of Indiana State's 24 wins in the series coming at home. The teams split the season series last year, with each team winning on the road.
Last Game Against Drake (Mar. 5, 2022)
Del'Janae Williams had 17 points, including a game-high three 3-pointers, but visiting Drake shot over 60 percent from the floor in the second half to defeat Indiana State, 86-71, inside Hulman Center.
Natalia Lalic and
Arianna Smith scored 12 points apiece, while
Marie Hunter had nine points and a team-high five assists in her final home game. Nine different players scored in the game for the Blue and White.
Indiana State got off to a hot start for a second straight game, leading by as many as 18 midway through the second quarter. Despite a strong start to the third quarter where the Sycamores managed to push their lead back into double-digits, Indiana State couldn't keep pace with Drake over the final 20 minutes, as the Bulldogs had 56 points in the second half to win their fifth straight game.
Up Next
Indiana State heads back on the road for its next two games, starting with a Friday night trip to Illinois State at 7:30 p.m.
