TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State heads south for the Thanksgiving holiday, as the Sycamores take part in the Puerto Rico Clasico.
The Sycamores will face Radford on Thanksgiving Day and will take on Northern Illinois Saturday. Both games are slated for an 11 a.m. ET tip, with pay per view broadcasts available on the tournament website.
Last Time Out
Kiley Bess led Indiana State with 16 points Saturday afternoon, but an early double-digit deficit proved to be the difference in a 72-63 defeat for the Sycamores against Wright State at Hulman Center.
Chelsea Cain added 14 points for the Sycamores, while
Mya Glanton and
Bella Finnegan were also in double-figures with 11 and 10, respectively. Glanton finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while
Ella Sawyer dished out six assists.
Indiana State took an early lead following a pair of free throws from Finnegan, but Wright State hit six 3-pointers in the first half on their way to an 11-point lead at the break. The Sycamores cut the deficit to single-digits on multiple occasions in the third quarter but Wright State had an answer every time. Bess, Cain and Finnegan combined for 18 points in the fourth quarter to get the Trees within five, but Indiana State ultimately ran out of time to complete its comeback attempt.
Island Vibes
Indiana State's trip to the Puerto Rico Clasico marks the first trip to Puerto Rico in program history and the first games off the US mainland for the Sycamores since the 2017-18 season, when ISU competed in the Cancun Challenge.
Indiana State's last games on an island came during the 2009-10 season, when the Sycamores competed in the Nassau Sunsplash Shootout. Overall, the Sycamores are 4-2 in games played off the US mainland, winning at least one game in each of their last three tournaments outside the continental US.
Let's Get Loud
Indiana State's Education Day contest against Illinois-Springfield drew an announced crowd of 2,311, marking the second straight season that the Sycamores had an Education Day crowd over 2,000.
Last season's Education Day game against Western Kentucky had an attendance of 2,321. Prior to that game, the last time Indiana State had a crowd of that size for a home game was against Indiana during the 2015-16 season.
Southern Specialty
Thursday's game against Radford marks just the fifth game in program history against a current Big South opponent for Indiana State.
Indiana State is 4-0 all-time against the current members of the Big South, with wins over High Point, Longwood and USC Upstate (twice). Of those wins, only the Sycamores' December 2004 win against High Point came when the opponent was actually a member of the Big South at the time.
Efficient Model
Indiana State has shot the ball well through the first two weeks of play this season, as the Sycamores are connecting on nearly 42 percent of their attempts from the field across their first four games.
Most of that efficiency can be tracked to the Sycamores' starting lineup, with three different Indiana State starters shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season.
Mya Glanton leads the team in field goal percentage at 55.0 percent, with
Kiley Bess (54.3 percent) and
Chelsea Cain (51.3 percent) also making more than half of their shot attempts this season.
Magic Numbers
Indiana State has been tough to beat when scoring 70 or more points under
Chad Killinger. The Sycamores have scored 70-plus points 17 times under Killinger and are 14-3 in those games.
Included in that mark is a perfect 8-0 record when scoring 80 or more points. Indiana State has won those seven games by an average of 19 points, which includes the Sycamores' season-opening win at Northern Kentucky.
Conversely, the Sycamores have also been hard to beat when their opponents fail to put up high point totals. Indiana State is 12-4 over the last two seasons when allowing fewer than 60 points, including a 4-0 mark in games where the Trees allowed less than 50 points. All of Indiana State's wins when allowing less than 50 points have come by double-digits.
Radford at a Glance
Radford enters the week at 2-3 following consecutive home losses to Norfolk State, ETSU and UNC Greensboro. The Highlanders' wins have come against Concord and Western Carolina.
All-Big South honoree Ashlyn Traylor-Walker leads the Highlanders with 16.4 points per game, while Taniya Hanner also averages double-digit scoring. Terissa Lavoile-Brice averages a team-high 9.0 rebounds per game, while Traylor-Walker and Ellie Taylor both average more than two assists per game.
Head coach Mike McGuire is in his 11th season at the helm of the Radford program, and has rebuilt Radford into one of the perennial powers of the Big South. The Highlanders have five postseason appearances in his first 10 years, including an appearance in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Series History Against Radford
Indiana State and Radford have never previously faced each other prior to Thursday's game.
Up Next
Indiana State closes play at the Puerto Rico Clasico Saturday at 11 a.m. against Northern Illinois.
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