TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State begins its final homestand of the season Thursday evening when it plays host to Northern Iowa for a 6 p.m. tip.
 
The game will be carried on ESPN+ and GoSycamores.com.
 

Indiana State Women's Basketball vs. Northern Iowa
Date	Thursday, March 7 | 6 p.m. ET
Location // Venue	Terre Haute, Ind. // Hulman Center (9,000)
Game Notes	Indiana State Notes // Northern Iowa Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats Link
Watch	ESPN+
Listen	Indiana State Radio / 105.5 The Legend
Tickets	Tickets Starting at $6
Media Info	Indiana State Women's Basketball Media Center
Social Media	@IndStWBB // @IndStAthletics

 
Gameday Promotions
This weekend is Senior Weekend for the Sycamores. Indiana State will honor its senior class, consisting of forward Chelsea Cain, guard Ella Sawyer and manager Reagan Smalley, across the weekend, culminating with a pregame recognition prior to Saturday's regular season finale against Drake.
 
Thursday's game has been designated as a Blue Out. All fans in attendance are encouraged to be loud and wear blue.
 
The Hometown Savings Bank is Thursday's game sponsor. For more information on our game sponsor, visit HERE.
 
Last Time Out
All five Indiana State starters scored seven or more points Sunday afternoon, but a slow start for the Sycamores proved costly in an 87-70 defeat at the hands of Murray State inside CFSB Center.
 
Ella Sawyer led the Sycamores with 15 points, her most in an Indiana State uniform. Mya Glanton added 13 points, while Bella Finnegan had 12. Glanton and Kiley Bess pulled down six rebounds each, while five different Sycamores dished out multiple assists.
 
In a near-mirror image of the first meeting this season, Indiana State quickly found itself in an early double-digit hole. The Sycamores trailed 17-2 by the midway point of the opening quarter and found themselves trying to catch up for the remainder of the game. A strong third quarter, capped by a 13-3 run, helped the Trees get within 62-49 heading to the fourth. Indiana State got within 10 at 66-56 following baskets from Glanton and Bess along with a three-ball from Finnegan, but an 11-2 Murray State run put the game out of reach.
 
Senior Weekend Special
This weekend's homestand also marks Senior Weekend for Indiana State, with the Sycamores set to recognize their senior class on Saturday.
 
This year's senior class has a special meaning to the program, as it is the first senior class fully recruited by the current coaching staff. Indiana State will recognize Chelsea Cain, Ella Sawyer and Reagan Smalley over the course of the weekend.
 
Cain and Sawyer have both played two seasons (2022-24) at Indiana State after transferring from Nicholls State and Austin Peay, respectively. The duo represented part of the first signing class for the current Sycamore coaching staff, and have been mainstays in the starting lineup for Indiana State.
 
Smalley joined the Indiana State program during the 2021-22 season and has played an instrumental role behind the scenes of the Sycamore program over the last three seasons. A lot of her work often goes unnoticed by outsiders, but her hard work has earned the respect and admiration of both the staff and student-athletes.
 
Seeding Scenarios
Indiana State enters the final weekend of the season already aware of its path to a conference tournament title
 
The Sycamores will be seeded either eighth or ninth for the 2024 MVC Tournament and will play in the 1 p.m. game on the opening day (March 14). Indiana State's potential first round opponent is still yet to be determined.
 
Should the Sycamores win their opening round game next week, they will play regular season champion Drake in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. on the second day of the tournament (March 15).
 
Shot-Swatting Sycamores
Indiana State has recorded 12 games with four or more blocks this season, including seven with five or more rejections. The Sycamores' most recent five-block game came in their most recent game at Murray State.
 
As a team, Indiana State ranks fourth in the conference with 3.3 blocks per game and have improved that average to 3.7 blocks per game against Valley foes. The Sycamores tied the program single-game high of 10 blocked shots earlier this season against Southern Illinois, while Savannah White matched the program individual single-game high of seven blocks in the aforementioned game against the Salukis.
 
Get To The Line
Indiana State has fared well when it gets to the free throw line this season, connecting on 75 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
Since the start of conference play, Indiana State's free throw percentage has improved to 76.7 percent.
 
Downtown
Indiana State has shot the ball better from behind the arc in conference play, with the Sycamores knocking down 33.3 percent of their 3-pointers against MVC foes. The 33 percent clip is a 10 percent improvement from the Trees' non-conference mark and also ranks fourth in the conference.
 
Indiana State shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range in both ends of their recent two-game trip to Belmont and Murray State.
 
Sharing Is Caring
Indiana State dished out a season-high 20 assists in its most recent win over Bradley, with the Sycamores assisting on nearly 75 percent of their made baskets.
 
The 20-assist game was Indiana State's first since a March 2023 win over Bradley at home. All five starters for the Sycamores had at least three assists.
 
Northern Iowa at a Glance
Northern Iowa enters the weekend at 13-14 overall and 12-6 in conference play. The Panthers have won four of their last five games.
 
MVC Preseason Player of the Year Grace Boffeli leads the Panthers in scoring and rebounding at 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, while Maya McDermott averages 15.5 points and 3.6 assists per game. Northern Iowa features nine different players who average four or more points per game, while six different Panthers average at least three rebounds per game. Boffeli, McDermott and Kayba Laube are all averaging double-digit scoring against conference foes.
 
Tanya Warren is in her 17th season at the helm of the Northern Iowa program and has a 319-225 career record as the head coach of the Panthers. Warren is the MVC's all-time wins leader.
 
Series History Against Northern Iowa
Indiana State owns a 42-41 advantage in the all-time series, though Northern Iowa has won the last six meetings. The Sycamores' last win in the series came in the 2019-20 season, a two-point win in Terre Haute.
 
Last Meeting Against Murray State (Jan. 6, 2024)
Indiana State gave preseason conference favorite Northern Iowa everything it could handle, but the Panthers outlasted the Sycamores 85-79 in a high-scoring battle inside McLeod Center.
 
Chelsea Cain led the way for the Sycamores with 18 points and six assists, while Mya Glanton added 17 points and six rebounds. Bella Finnegan was also in double-figures for the Trees with 11, while Ella Sawyer had seven points and matched her career high of eight assists.
 
Indiana State opened the game on a 7-0 run and shot 60 percent from the field in the opening quarter. The Sycamores were efficient from distance in the opening 20 minutes, where they were 7-for-10 from behind the arc. Northern Iowa kept pace, though, and took a two-point lead into halftime. The Sycamores were neck-and-neck throughout the second half, but the home side took advantage of 26 free throw attempts in the second half to narrowly defeat a scrappy Sycamore team.
 
Up Next
Indiana State wraps up the regular season with Senior Day Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Drake.
 
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Women's Basketball, visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the App Store and the Google Play Store.