TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State opens a three-game road trip Thursday night when it heads north to take on UIC at 8 p.m. The game will be carried on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
Last Time Out
Del'Janae Williams led Indiana State with 16 points Saturday afternoon, but a strong fourth quarter sent visiting Southern Illinois past the Sycamores, 60-58, inside Hulman Center.
Bella Finnegan scored 12 points in her second career start, while
Chelsea Cain and
Anna McKendree added eight points apiece.
Mya Glanton and
Adrian Folks had a game-high 11 rebounds each.
Indiana State used a strong second quarter to take a lead into halftime and continued that momentum into the second half. The Sycamores built a double-digit lead early in the second half and led by as many as 16 late in the third quarter. Southern Illinois clawed its way back at the end of the third and outscored the Sycamores 19-6 in the fourth to come from behind and win.
Crashing the Glass
Indiana State was plus-15 in rebound margin (49-34) in its last game against Southern Illinois, its largest rebound margin of the season and best rebound margin in a game since Feb. 12, 2022 at Evansville (50-32, plus-18).
Mya Glanton and
Adrian Folks both had 11 rebounds, marking the first time the Sycamores had teammates with double-digit rebounds in the same game since Feb. 12, 2022 at Evansville (
Tonysha Curry 13,
Arianna Smith 11).
Welcome to The Valley
After scoring in double-figures just twice during non-conference play, freshman
Bella Finnegan hit double-figures in each of Indiana State's first two MVC games.
Finnegan scored a career-high 14 points against Missouri State, leading the Sycamores in scoring in that game, and followed that with 12 against Southern Illinois. She also added a career-best five rebounds against Missouri State and a career-high three assists against Southern Illinois. Finnegan has three double-figure scoring games in Indiana State's last four games.
Road Trippin'
Indiana State is seeking its first road win of the season. The Sycamores fell to Purdue (77-54) and Western Michigan (77-67) in their only non-conference road games of the season. This weekend's road swing is also the first time that the Sycamores will play back-to-back road games this season.
Last season, Indiana State won six games on the road. That total was the most for the Sycamores since the 2018-19 season.
3-Point Shutdown
Indiana State has limited its opponents' success from distance over the last five games. The Sycamores' last five opponents have all shot 30 percent or worse from 3-point range, with those five opponents going a collective 20-for-109 from distance (18.3 percent).
Included in that span are consecutive games with opponents shooting below 15 percent from distance. Purdue Fort Wayne was 4-for-31 from behind the arc (12.9 percent) and Detroit Mercy was 1-for-14 from deep (7.1 percent).
Newcomer Making Noise
Indiana State forward
Chelsea Cain has scored at least eight points in each of the last eight games and has grabbed at least six rebounds in each of the last five games. Cain is averaging 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game over the last five games, including season-highs of 17 points and nine rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne.
UIC at a Glance
UIC enters Thursday's game at 8-5 overall and 0-2 in MVC play after losses to Belmont and Murray State in the opening weekend of conference play. The Flames have lost their last four games, as they closed non-conference with defeats to Northwestern and SEMO.
Josie Filer leads UIC in scoring and rebounding at 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Jaida McCloud (11.1) and Ky Dempsey-Toney (10.2) are also averaging double-figure scoring for the Flames. UIC ranks second in the conference in scoring defense at 58.4 points allowed per game.
Ashleen Bracey is in her first season as the head coach at UIC following six seasons as an assistant at Missouri. Bracey is no stranger to the MVC, as she played at Illinois State.
Series History Against UIC
Indiana State has a 13-3 lead in the all-time series and has won each of the last three meetings. The Sycamores are 6-1 in their last seven games against UIC.
Last Game Against UIC (Dec. 14, 2021)
Caitlin Anderson scored a season-high 16 points off the bench and
Tonysha Curry posted her first career double-double to lead Indiana State past UIC, 76-50, inside Hulman Center.
Curry finished with career highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Sycamores, while
Mya Glanton also finished in double-figures with 10. Indiana State led by as many as 35 points in the game and made its presence felt inside, scoring 50 of its 76 points in the paint.
ISU went on a 15-2 run midway through the first quarter and never looked back. The Sycamores limited UIC to 10 points or less in each of the first three quarters on the defensive end, while shooting more than 50 percent from the field on the offensive side. All nine players who saw the floor for the Sycamores scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound.
Up Next
Indiana State's three-game road trip continues Saturday afternoon when it takes on Valparaiso at 2 p.m.
