TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State heads back on the road for the next two games, starting Friday night with a 7:30 tip at Illinois State inside CEFCU Arena. The game will be carried on ESPN3 and 105.5 The Legend.
Last Time Out
Anna McKendree notched Indiana State's first points-assists double-double since 2006, but visiting Drake's high-powered offense led the Bulldogs past the Sycamores, 86-65, inside Hulman Center.
McKendree finished with 14 points and 10 assists, becoming the first Sycamore since ISU Hall of Famer Melanie Boeglin to notch a double-double with points and assists. She also led the Trees with six rebounds and four steals.
Del'Janae Williams led the Sycamores in scoring with 17, her third straight game in double-figures, while
Chelsea Cain added 15.
Drake jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Bulldogs shot 70 percent in the opening quarter and took a commanding 32-10 lead after 10 minutes. Indiana State never quit, though, outscoring the visitors by one over the final 30 minutes. The Sycamores cut the deficit to 16 early in the fourth, but a 9-2 Drake run ended the hopes of a Sycamore comeback.
Milestone Moment
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 program are nearing career milestones.
Del'Janae Williams is also closing in on 1,000 career points, as she is currently 106 points away from reaching the milestone with at least 15 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.
Bouncing Back
Indiana State's start to Saturday's game against Drake was not what the Sycamores were hoping for, but the Sycamores
After being outscored 32-10 in the opening quarter, Indiana State outscored Drake 55-54 over the final 30 minutes. The Trees cut what was a 28-point deficit down to 16 early in the fourth quarter before a Drake scoring run ended the comeback hopes.
Heating Up
Indiana State guard
Del'Janae Williams has continued to elevate her game for the Blue and White, scoring in double-figures in each of the last three games.
Williams, who leads the Sycamores in scoring this season at 13.3 points per game, is averaging 19.0 points per game over the last three games. Included in that total is a season-high 25-point effort in a come-from-behind win at Valparaiso.
Dropping Dimes
Despite the scoreline in Indiana State's last game against Drake, Sycamore guard
Anna McKendree still had a game to remember. McKendree led Indiana State with 10 assists, six rebounds and four steals while also chipping in 14 points.
It was the first double-double of her Indiana State career and the first points-assists double-double by a Sycamore since ISU Hall of Famer Melanie Boeglin accomplished the feat on March 4, 2006.
On the Road Again
Indiana State finds itself in a similar spot, back on the road. The Sycamores opened 2023 with three straight road games and are in the midst of a six-game stretch featuring five games away from home. Thus far, the Trees are 2-1 during this road stretch, with wins over UIC and Valparaiso and a loss to Evansville.
Indiana State's lone home game during that stretch was its most recent game against Drake. The Sycamores begin a three-game homestand following this weekend's contests on the road.
Illinois State at a Glance
Illinois State, the defending MVC Tournament champion, enters the weekend atop the MVC standings at 11-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The Redbirds have won each of their last four games.
Drury transfer Paige Robinson, who was a two-time Division II All-American and the 2020-21 Division II National Player of the Year, leads the Redbirds in scoring at 19.0 points per game. Mary Crompton (11.4) and DeAnna Wilson (10.4) also average double-figure scoring for Illinois State, while Wilson leads the team in rebounds at 7.6 per contest. Robinson, Crompton and Maya Wong all shoot better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
Kristen Gillespie is in her sixth season as the head coach at Illinois State and has taken the Redbirds to the postseason each of the last two years.
Series History Against Illinois State
Illinois State has a 57-45 advantage in the all-time series and has won each of the last seven meetings. Indiana State's last win in the series was in 2019 and the Sycamores' last win in Normal was in 2017.
Last Game Against Illinois State (Feb. 6, 2022)
Indiana State shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the second half, but a slow start proved costly for the Sycamores in a 72-64 loss to Illinois State inside Redbird Arena.
Natalia Lalic led the Sycamores with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half.
Del'Janae Williams added 14 points and six assists, while
Marie Hunter scored 10.
Mya Glanton had a team-high seven rebounds in the setback.
Indiana State trailed by as many as 17 midway through the second quarter after a slow start to the game. The Sycamores were unable to get into a rhythm on the offensive end in the early going, shooting under 40 percent in each of the first two quarters. The Sycamores picked up the intensity in the second half, forcing 12 turnovers in the final 20 minutes and cutting it to a two-possession game late, but ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Up Next
Indiana State's stretch of five road games in a six-game span concludes with a Sunday afternoon tilt at Bradley, with tipoff set for 3 p.m.
