TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State begins play in the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Championship Thursday night when it faces Northern Iowa at 9:30 p.m. inside the Ford Center in Evansville.
 
Thursday's game will be carried on ESPN+, with Brad Wells (play-by-play) and Jacqui Kalin (analyst) on the call. John Sherman will also have the radio call on WVIG-FM/105.5 The Legend.
 
Last Time Out
Keslyn Secrist scored a career-high 26 points Saturday afternoon, but visiting Murray State's offense proved too much for the Sycamores to overcome in a 109-70 loss inside Hulman Center.
 
Seniors Deja Jones and Semie Brar joined Secrist in double-figures with 12 and 11, respectively, with Brar setting a season high in scoring in the process. Bella Finnegan had seven points and a career-high 10 rebounds, while Jones also dished out seven assists.
 
Indiana State kept pace early by shooting better than 50 percent in the first quarter, but Murray State built a double-digit lead by the intermission. The Racers exploded for 35 points in the third quarter to break the game open. Indiana State had another strong shooting quarter in the fourth, but the game was out of reach by that point as Murray State claimed a share of the MVC regular season title.
 
Tourney Time
Indiana State enters the MVC Tournament as the 11 seed, with the Sycamores earning a first round matchup against Northern Iowa Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. The winner of Thursday's game will face Belmont in the quarterfinals Friday night at 9:30 p.m. Saturday's semifinal will tip at 5 p.m., with the championship game tipping at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
 
Indiana State is 15-30 all-time in the MVC Tournament and has advanced past the first round in two of the last three seasons. The Sycamores have reached the championship game three times in program history, but have never won an MVC Tournament title.
 
Trees After Dark
Indiana State's first round game against Northern Iowa is the latest tip time for a Sycamore women's basketball game this season at 9:30 p.m. ET and the latest tip time for an MVC Tournament game since the 2016 quarterfinal against Missouri State
 
Indiana State's last game with a tip time of 9 p.m. or later came in the 2017 Cancun Challenge against Montana. That game, which tipped at 9:26 p.m. ET, ended in a 57-45 win for the Sycamores.
 
Sharp-Shooting Secrist
Indi Indiana State guard Keslyn Secrist has scored 20-plus points in three of the Sycamores' last four games, including both ends of the Trees' final homestand of the regular season. Secrist scored a career-high 26 points in the regular season finale against Murray State.
 
Over the last four games, Secrist is averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 57 percent from the field. Secrist's shooting numbers were even better over the final week of the regular season, as she was 20-for-30 (66.7 percent) from the field across the Sycamores' games versus Belmont and Murray State.
 
Despite not being among the top three for the MVC's Most Improved Player, Secrist's rise this season has been notable. She opened the season with a 21-point game against Western Kentucky and never looked back. Secrist went from a role player who averaged 4.2 points per game in less 10 minutes per game last season to Indiana State's leading scorer this season at nearly 14 points per game and a major focal point of the Sycamore offense.
 
Dropping Dimes
Indiana State senior guard Deja Jones has put together one of the best seasons in recent history for the Sycamores in terms of assists. Jones has dished out 146 assists entering the week, the most for an Indiana State player since the 2009-10 season. Her 4.7 assists per game this season rank third in the MVC and is the best per-game average for the Sycamores since the 2006-07 season.
 
Jones has 12 games this season with five or more assists, eight of which have come against conference opposition. Over the last 10 games, Jones has averaged 7.1 assists per game and has three games with double-digit assists in that span. Jones has three double-doubles this season, the second-most on the team, and also recorded the only triple-double in the MVC this season with an 11-point, 12-rebound, 12-assist game at Southern Illinois.
 
Climbing The Charts
Indiana State forward Savannah White already ranks among the best shot blockers in program history, with the junior post player leading the MVC in blocks per game during conference play this season (2.1 per game against leage foes) despite not being named to the league's all-defensive team.
 
White's 48 blocks this season rank sixth for a single season in program history, while her 71 career blocks are ninth in program history. White is the first Sycamore to crack the program single-season and career top-10 for blocks since the 2017-18 campaign.
 
White has two of the five games with five-plus blocks by an MVC athlete during conference play. She had a season-high six blocks against Valparaiso and also had a five-block game against Bradley. White is the only athlete in the league with multiple five-block games against conference opposition this season.
 
Get To The Glass
Indiana State has been among the best offensive rebounding teams in the MVC this season, with the Sycamores ranking second in the conference at 12.7 offensive boards per game. The 12.7 offensive rebounds per game also ranks 80th nationally.
 
The Trees' success on the offensive glass has been a team effort, as four Sycamores have pulled down 40-plus offensive rebounds this season (Saige Stahl 80, Savannah White 53, Mia Simpson 47, Keslyn Secrist 40).
 
Indiana State's ability to crash the glass on the offensive side has often led to extra opportunities for the Blue and White. The Sycamores are averaging 12.2 second chance points per game this season and has nine games with 15-plus second chance points this season.
 
Rebounding will be a major key for Indiana State if it wants to advance past the opening round. The Sycamores have yet to win a game this season when being out-rebounded (0-17).
 
Block Party
Indiana State is one of the top shot-blocking teams in the MVC this season, with the Sycamores averaging 3.8 blocks per game entering the conference tournament. The Sycamores rank second in the conference and 75th in the nation in blocks per game this season. Against conference opposition, the Trees' shot-blocking totals have increased to 4.25 blocks per game.
 
Four different Sycamores have registered double-digit blocks this season. Savannah White is among the conference leaders in blocks this season, ranking fourth in both total blocks (48) and blocks per game (1.6), while Bella Finnegan and Keslyn Secrist both have double-digit blocks against league opposition.
 
Northern Iowa At A Glance
Northern Iowa ended the regular season at 16-15 overall and 11-9 in conference play. The Panthers earned the No. 6 seed in this week's MVC Tournament.
 
First team all-conference selection Maya McDermott leads the Panthers with 18.9 points and 4.5 assists per game, while third team all-conference honoree Kayba Laube adds 12.4 points per game and is the top 3-point shooter in the MVC at 46.4 percent. Ryley Goebel chips in with 10.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and was named to the all-defensive team after ranking among the conference leaders in blocks (first, 68) and steals (fourth, 66) this season.
 
Tanya Warren is in her 18th season as head coach at Northern Iowa and owns a 338-242 record at the helm of the Panthers. Warren ranks second in MVC history in total wins (338) and first in conference wins (218).
 
Series History Against Northern Iowa
Indiana State is 42-43 all-time against Northern Iowa, including a 2-1 mark at neutral sites. Northern Iowa has won each of the last eight in the all-time series.
 
The last MVC Tournament game between the Sycamores and Panthers was in 2013, which Northern Iowa won 71-60 in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
Last Meeting Against Northern Iowa (Dec. 29, 2024)
Three of Indiana State's five starters scored in double-figures, but visiting Northern Iowa spoiled the Sycamores' return to Hulman Center in a 75-65 setback.
 
Keslyn Secrist led the Trees with 17 points, her most in a MVC game in her career, while Chloe Williams and Bella Finnegan each had 11, with Finnegan drawing her first start of the season. Williams added a team-high seven rebounds and three blocks, while Saige Stahl and Savannah White each pulled down six boards.
 
The Sycamores shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the first quarter while playing strong defense to take a four-point lead after one. UNI opened the second with a 10-0 run in what became a back-and-forth game, with the visitors taking a 31-28 advantage at the half. Northern Iowa led by as many as 10 in the third, before a strong close including a Secrist three pulled the Sycamores within 49-44 heading to the fourth. Secrist and Finnegan scored early in the fourth to make it a one-point game, but a 9-0 UNI run followed. The Trees got back within two possessions late but ran out of time to complete their comeback.
 
Up Next
The winner of Thursday's game earns a spot in the quarterfinals against Belmont Friday at 9:30 p.m.
 
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