NORMAL, Ill. – Three players scored in double-figures Monday night for Indiana State, but homestanding Illinois State led wire-to-wire in a 105-64 setback for the Sycamores inside CEFCU Arena.
 
Da'Naria Washington led the Blue and White with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Amerie Flowers added 10 points and eight boards. Tierney Kelsey was also in double-figures with 11, with Samiyah Briggs adding nine points and five rebounds.
 
Indiana State stayed within two possessions for the first quarter of the game, but things quickly went downhill from there. Illinois State outscored the Trees 32-10 in the second quarter to lead 56-28 at the break. Washington scored seven of her 12 points in the third quarter, but the result was well out of reach by that point.
 
First Half
Briggs started the Sycamores' scoring with a layup, and Flowers added a basket down low as the Trees kept pace early on. Kelsey tacked on a jumper midway through and later knocked down a trey as the Sycamores stayed within two possessions of the home side. Briggs and Camariyana Tavares made late layups for the Blue and White, with the latter adding another basket before the buzzer to pull Indiana State within 24-18 after one quarter.
 
The second quarter is where things unraveled for the Blue and White, as Illinois State opened on a 10-0 run before a Flowers layup made it 34-20. Flowers later added a pair of free throws, but a 15-3 Redbird run followed. Kelsey converted a three-point play late, but the Sycamores went into the intermission facing a 56-28 deficit.
 
Second Half 
Flowers hit an early third quarter layup, and Washington gave the Sycamores life with a corner three and a running floater. A layup from Tavares followed just past the midway point, with Kayla Smith and Jayci Allen adding treys for the Trees.  Indiana State gave up a 5-0 run to end the frame, though, as the Sycamores' deficit increased to 77-47 heading to the fourth quarter.
 
Allen and Kelsey hit layups early in the fourth, and Smith added one in transition for the Sycamores. Washington added a pair of baskets in the paint, and Blake and Nala Abraham went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe over the closing moments of the game, but it came in a 105-64 defeat for the Sycamores.
 
News and Notes

• Da'Naria Washington's 12 points and seven rebounds were both season-high marks.
• Jayci Allen's point total rose to 1,007 for her career between Indiana State (107), Northwestern Ohio (430) and Marian-Ancilla (452).
• Amaya Blake made her Indiana State debut in Monday's game, finishing with three points and one assist in four minutes of action.
• Camariyana Tavares finished with a career-high seven points and also added four rebounds.
• Indiana State's upward trend from the charity stripe continued, as the Sycamores were 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the line.
• Ruth Sodipe made her first start in an Indiana State uniform and played a season-high 14 minutes.
• Half of Indiana State's scoring in Monday's game (32 points) came in the paint.
• Tierney Kelsey scored in double-figures for the 11th time in the Sycamores' first 12 games.
• Illinois State guard Bella Finnegan, who was a three-year letterwinner at Indiana State (2022-25), finished with three points and three rebounds in her first game against her former school.

 
Up Next
Indiana State makes its return to Hulman Center Thursday for a New Year's Day matinee against Valparaiso, with tipoff set for 2 p.m.

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