TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State closes out the regular season Saturday afternoon when it plays Drake at 1 p.m.
The game will be carried on ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
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.
Planet Fitness is Saturday's game sponsor. For more information on our game sponsor, visit
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Last Time Out
Mya Glanton registered her sixth double-double of the season Thursday night, but visiting Northern Iowa shot better than 50 percent from the field and held Indiana State below 30 percent in a 91-62 win over the Sycamores inside Hulman Center.
Glanton finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Sycamores, while
Bella Finnegan,
Keslyn Secrist and
Asia Donald had eight points each.
Jailah Pelly and
Saige Stahl had career-highs of six and five points, respectively.
Indiana State got off to a good start courtesy of a pair of Finnegan 3-pointers as part of a 10-2 run, but Northern Iowa worked its way back. The Panthers cut Indiana State's lead to a point by the end of the first quarter, then began the second on a 10-3 run and never looked back. Northern Iowa shot better than 50 percent from the field in each of the last three quarters and better than 60 percent in both the second and fourth on their way to a lopsided win over the Sycamores.
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.
Fab Freshmen
Indiana State's freshmen took full advantage of their second half playing time against Northern Iowa on Thursday, with the group combining to score 27 points against the Panthers.
Asia Donald and
Keslyn Secrist scored eight points for the Sycamores, tied for the second-most on the team in the game.
Jailah Pelly added six points and
Saige Stahl had five. For Pelly and Stahl, the point totals represented career highs.
Spread The Wealth
Although the score was not in Indiana State's favor Thursday, the Sycamores found plenty of balance on the scoresheet against Northern Iowa.
Indiana State had nine different players score four or more points, including five with six or more points. Three of the Sycamores' five with six-plus points Thursday were freshmen. The balance in Indiana State's scoring allowed the Sycamores to finish Thursday's game with 30 bench points.
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. Indiana State will play Southern Illinois in the opening round.
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.
Shot-Swatting Sycamores
Indiana State has recorded 13 games with four or more blocks this season, including eight with five or more rejections. The Sycamores' most recent five-block game came in their most recent game against Northern Iowa.
As a team, Indiana State ranks fourth in the conference with 3.7 blocks per game and have improved that average to 3.8 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 33.6 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.
Drake at a Glance
Drake enters Saturday's game at 25-5 overall and 18-1 in conference play. The Bulldogs have clinched the regular season title at the No. 1 seed for Hoops in the Heartland and are the best 3-point shooting team in the MVC with 245 this season.
Katie Dinnebier leads the Bulldogs with 18.3 points and a conference-high 6.9 assists per game. Grace Berg (17.0) and Anna Miller (12.8) also average double-figure scoring for the Bulldogs, with Miller also pulling down an MVC-high 9.8 rebounds per game. All five Drake startesr average at least eight points and three rebounds per game while dishing out 50 or more assists this season.
Allison Pohlman is in her third season as the head coach at Drake and has a 67-29 career record. Pohlman led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament last season.
Series History Against Drake
Drake leads the all-time series 63-24 and has won the last three meetings. Indiana State's last win in the series came in the 2021-22 conference opener, while the Sycamores' last home win in the series came in the 2015-16 season.
Last Meeting Against Drake (Jan. 4, 2024)
Homestanding Drake used a 16-0 run across the first and second quarters and never looked back on its way to a 77-47 win over Indiana State inside the Knapp Center.
Asia Donald led the Sycamores with nine points off the bench, while
Chloe Williams added seven.
Savannah White pulled down a team-high five rebounds, while
Deja Jones dished out three assists in her first Missouri Valley
Conference contest.
Indiana State got within a point early on following a 10-0 run which featured six points from
Mya Glanton. The ensuing 16-0 run for Drake saw the Trees go down by double-digits, and the Bulldogs further extended their lead by outscoring the Sycamores 29-8 in the second quarter. Indiana State showed fight in the second half and outscored Drake in the fourth quarter, but the early run was too much for the Sycamores to overcome.
Up Next
Indiana State turns its attention to Hoops in the Heartland, with the Sycamores opening the MVC Tournament against Southern Illinois Thursday at 1 p.m.
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on Sycamore Women's Basketball, visit
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