EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indiana State's season came to a conclusion Thursday night, as the Sycamores fell to Northern Iowa 87-73 in the opening round of the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Championship inside the Ford Center.
 
Deja Jones led the Blue and White with 17 points, and also had seven rebounds and three assists. Queen Ruffin added a season-high 15 points off the bench, while Keslyn Secrist also finished in double-figures with 14.
 
Indiana State started strong, hitting five of its first eight shots, but a 15-0 run Northern Iowa spanning parts of the first and second quarters proved costly for the Sycamores. Facing a double-digit deficit at the break, the Sycamore offense came to life with Ruffin scoring 10 third-quarter points and Indiana State knocking down a trio of threes in the period. Indiana State got within 10 in the fourth with Secrist, Ruffin and Savannah White all scoring early in the final frame, but the Sycamores couldn't piece together a rally in the end.
 
First Half
Indiana State hit four straight baskets, made by four different players, to get things started, with Secrist, Bella Finnegan, Jones and Davina Smith all getting in on the action early. Smith's three-point play and a floater from Secrist gave the Sycamores an 11-8 lead less than four minutes in, which prompted a UNI timeout. Northern Iowa battled back to go in front, but White connected on a pair of baskets to knot the score at 17-all late in the frame. The Panthers closed the quarter on a 6-0 to lead 23-17 after one, with their run extending into the second.
 
UNI scored the first nine points of the second quarter to extend their run to 15-0 and open a 32-17 lead. Secrist knocked down a pair of shots, with Smith adding a jumper to pull the Trees within 34-24 midway through the second. A pair of layups from Jones gave the Sycamores some momentum heading into the locker room, but the Trees trailed 40-28 at the half.
 
Second Half
Most of Indiana State's damage early in the third came from the free throw line, with the exception being a layup from Jones less than two minutes in. Saige Stahl knocked down a three, Indiana State's first of the game, midway through the third quarter to open the floodgates for the Sycamores. Back-to-back baskets from Finnegan cut the deficit down to 52-40 at the media timeout, with Ruffin heating up in the back half of the frame. Ruffin hit a pair of late threes and added a layup with just over a minute to go, while Stahl tacked on a layup inside the final minute as the Sycamores pulled within 66-52 entering the fourth.
 
Free throws from Secrist and a layup from Ruffin got the Trees back within 10 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, and White hit a pair of free throws to make it 68-58 early on. Indiana State never got closer than that, though. Ruffin and Secrist connected on baskets on consecutive possessions midway through, while Jones added a layup to make it 79-68 at the midway point of the quarter, but the Sycamores couldn't string together the rally they were looking for. Jones added a late layup and Smith converted a pair from the charity stripe, but the underdog Sycamores ultimately fell 87-73.
 
News and Notes

• Indiana State closes its season, the first under head coach Marc Mitchell, at 4-28.
• Savannah White had three blocks Thursday night, finishing the season with 51 rejections. White became the first Sycamore with 50-plus blocks in a season since the 2015-16 campaign, with her 51 blocks tied for fourth in a single season in program history. She also moved into a tie for eighth in program history in career blocks with 74.
• Deja Jones finished the season with 149 assists, the most by a Sycamore in a single season since the 2010-11 campaign. Her 4.7 assists per game are the most for an Indiana State player since the 2006-07 season.
• Keslyn Secrist's 442 points scored and 13.8 points per game this season were both the most by a Indiana State player since the 2013-14 season.
• Keslyn Secrist's 88.8 percent clip from the free throw line this season (71-for-80) ranks third in a single season in program history (min. 70 FT attempted). Secrist (85.5 percent) and Bella Finnegan (85.7 percent) both rank in the top five in program history for career free throw percentage.
• All of Queen Ruffin's 15 points Thursday night came in the second half.
• After being outscored by 12 in the first half (40-28), Indiana State was outscored by just two in the second half (47-45)
• Davina Smith made her first start since Feb. 21 and finished with eight points and four rebounds.
• Indiana State's 22 bench points were its most in a game since Feb. 21 at UIC (26).

 
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