TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State's road trip continues Tuesday night when the Sycamores square off with Marquette inside the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee.
Tipoff is slated for 7:30 and will be carried on FloHoops, with Bob Brainerd (play-by-play) and Chloe Marotta (analyst) on the call.
Last Time Out
Chloe Williams tallied a career-high 22 points Saturday evening, as Indiana State overcame a double-digit deficit on the road to defeat Southeast Missouri State 68-65 inside the Show Me Center.
Keslyn Secrist added 13 points for her sixth straight double-figure scoring output, while
Mia Simpson had eight points, including the go-ahead basket, six rebounds and four steals in her return to the Sycamore lineup.
Saige Stahl pulled down 11 rebounds for the Trees, while Williams added six boards, four steals and three blocks as part of her career-best night on the road.
Indiana State led after the opening quarter, before a slow second frame saw the Trees down by as many as 11. Williams and Secrist combined for 25 points in the final 20 minutes, while Simpson's coast-to-coast drive inside the final minute helped Indiana State overcome their early woes to win on the road.
On The Road Again
Indiana State is in the midst of a 45-day span between home games, with the Sycamores not returning home until their Dec. 29 conference opener against Northern Iowa. The 45 days between home games is the second-longest stretch between home games in all of Division I.
Despite the long stretch on the road, the Sycamores have performed better away from Terre Haute in recent years. Indiana State's lone win this season came on the road, while the Trees have a 18-28 record in away games since the start of the 2021-22 season, compared to a 14-31 mark at home during that stretch.
Pound The Paint
One common theme in Indiana State's two wins this season has been the Sycamores' ability to attack the paint. The Trees have scored 30-plus points in the paint in each of their two wins this season, with 36 against Wright State and 32 against Southeast Missouri State.
Sycamore post players have registered career-best outings in each of Indiana State's road wins this season.
Saige Stahl recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds against Wright State, while
Chloe Williams tallied a career-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds, four steals and three blocks against Southeast Missouri State.
Thieves Avenue
Indiana State forced Southeast Missouri State into 23 turnovers Saturday night, the most by a Sycamore opponent this season. More than half of those were live-ball turnovers, with the Sycamores recording a season-high 15 steals. Three different players –
Deja Jones,
Mia Simpson and
Chloe Williams – tallied four steals each.
The Sycamores took full advantage of Southeast Missouri State's miscues, with Indiana State scoring a season-best 32 points off turnovers. It was the Sycamores' first game with 30-plus points off turnovers since the opening week of the 2023-24 season.
Attack The Line
Indiana State finds itself among the national leaders when it comes to getting to the free throw line this season. The Sycamores are 31st nationally with 21.7 free throw attempts per game, while the Trees' 15.5 free throws made per game ranks 27th in Division I.
The last two games have been Indiana State's best when it comes to converting from the charity stripe. The Sycamores were 19-for-24 (79.2 percent) from the line against Butler and went 22-for-28 (78.6 percent) against Southeast Missouri State.
No Fly Zone
Indiana State has continued its trend from previous seasons of being a strong 3-point defending team. The Sycamores rank second in the MVC and just outside the top 100 nationally in 3-point defense, with opponents making just 28.0 percent of their attempts from behind the arc.
Four of the Sycamores' first six opponents this season have shot below 30 percent from 3-point range, including nationally-ranked Iowa State going just 8-for-36 (22.2 percent) from deep against the Trees. Also included in that mark is a 5-for-28 showing (17.9 percent) from Wright State against the Trees.
Crash The Glass
Indiana State continues to own a positive rebound margin this season at plus-1.2, a mark which ranks in the top half of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Sycamores have won the rebound battle in four of the first six games this season, including both of their wins (plus-nine against Wright State, plus-four against Southeast Missouri State).
Saige Stahl leads the Sycamores with 9.3 rebounds per game, a mark which ranks fourth in the MVC, while
Chloe Williams also ranks in the top 15 in the conference with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Savannah White also averages just under five boards per game to rank in the top 25 in the MVC, with
Keslyn Secrist (3.5),
Mia Simpson (3.5) and
Deja Jones (3.2) all averaging more than three rebounds per game for the Blue and White.
Marquette At A Glance
Winners of four straight, Marquette enters Tuesday's game with a 4-2 record and has won both of its home games this season. The Golden Eagles went 2-0 last week at the Battle on the Banks, defeating Rutgers and Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Skylar Forbes leads the Golden Eagles in scoring at 15.2 points per game, with Lee Volker also averaging double-figures at 12.5 points per game. Halle Vice adds eight points and a team-high six rebounds per game, with Volker dishing out a team-leading 2.5 assists per game. Forbes leads the team in blocks at 2.1 per game.
Cara Consuegra is in her first season as head coach at Marquette after spending the last 13 seasons as the head coach at Charlotte. Consuegra owns a 229-171 record as a head coach and made seven postseason appearances in her 13 seasons at Charlotte.
Series History Against Marquette
Indiana State is 1-3 all-time against Marquette, with the Sycamores' lone win in the series being a 77-47 victory in Terre Haute during the 1981-82 season.
Indiana State hasn't faced Marquette since the 2014 WNIT, while the Sycamores' last game against the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee came during the 2007-08 season.
Last Meeting Against Marquette (March 20, 2014)
Indiana State's historic season ended as it dropped a nailbiter with Marquette, 63-61, in the opening round of the WNIT at Hulman Center. The Sycamores finished the 2013-14 season with a 20-12 (.625) overall record for the first 20-win season since 2005-06.
Junior forward Jasmine Grier knocked down a game-high 21 points while sophomore forward Marina Laramie chipped in 14 points. Senior guards Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir and Anna Munn both scored in double figures as they ended their careers in a Sycamore uniform. Abdul-Qaadir finished with 10 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals.
It was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads that featured nine ties and 13 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points throughout the contest with the game knotted at 28 at the half. A tight second half evened up with 7:54 to play as Abdul-Qaadir made her first field goal of the night, tying the score up at 50-50. She scored her final six points in the last 7:54, as ISU would take a lead on junior forward Racheal Mahan's free throw with 1:11 to play. Marquette's Katherine Plouffe would drive to the basket for a layup with 1:02 to play and help the Golden Eagles (22-10) keep a lead they would never relinquish.
Up Next
Indiana State makes the short trek across the state line to face Eastern Illinois Friday at 6 p.m.
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