TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State and Southern Illinois square off in the opening game of the 2026 MVC Tournament Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. inside Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
Thursday's tournament opener will be aired 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
Indiana State closed out its regular season Thursday night, as visiting Northern Iowa defeated the Sycamores 92-73 inside Hulman Center.
Tierney Kelsey led the Sycamores with 18 points, while
Kennedy Claybrooks tacked on 13 and
Clemisha Prackett produced her fourth double-double in the last five games with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Claybrooks added four assists, while
Ruth Sodipe produced her best game of the season with seven points and five rebounds.
The Panthers came out scoring quick opening the game on an 11-0 run, which proved to be too much for the Sycamores to come back from, despite keeping pace with them for the remainder of the game. Northern Iowa doubled up Indiana State 34-17 in the opening frame, and cruised to a win on the road.
Tourney Time
Indiana State enters the MVC Tournament as the ninth seed for the second time in the last three seasons, with the Sycamores facing Southern Illinois in the conference tournament for the fifth time in the last six seasons (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026).
The Sycamores own a 15-31 mark all-time in conference tournament games, though the Blue and White have seen some recent success with recent first round wins in 2022 and 2024. Indiana State's last conference tournament win came against Southern Illinois in 2024 (66-54), with the Sycamores also winning their most recent matchup against the Salukis on February 21 in Terre Haute (81-73).
Should Indiana State win Thursday's opening round game against Southern Illinois, the Sycamores will meet Murray State in the quarterfinals Friday at 1 p.m. in a battle between the two highest-scoring teams in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
Big-Time Bench
Indiana State's bench production this season has been among the best in the nation, with the Sycamores' 32.7 bench points per game ranking third in the nation. The Sycamores trail only a pair of nationally-ranked teams in LSU and Louisville in terms of bench scoring.
The Sycamores' top three scorers this season have all primarily come off the bench, with sophomore guard
Tierney Kelsey's 14.3 points per game also ranking in the top 15 in the conference this season. Kelsey has scored in double-figures in 23 of Indiana State's 30 games this season, including a team-leading five 20-point games.
Junior forward
Clemisha Prackett nearly averages a double-double off the bench at 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, despite averaging less than 20 minutes per contest. Prackett's 8.0 rebounds per game rank sixth in the conference this season, while her 3.2 offensive rebounds per game ranked second in the conference.
Jayci Allen averages just shy of 10 points per game off the bench, with the redshirt junior sharpshooter also ranking fifth in the MVC in 3-point percentage at a team-leading 32.9 percent. Allen's 50 3-pointers this season also rank in the top 10 in the conference. She tallied a team-leading 16 games with multiple 3-pointers this season, including seven games with three or more treys.
Indiana State was snubbed of any conference postseason accolades, including Sixth Player of the Year, despite having the top bench scorer (Kelsey), rebounder (Prackett) and 3-point shooter (Allen) in the MVC this season while featuring the only reserve unit in the conference to average more than 30 points per game.
Charity Work
Indiana State has been one of the best in the nation when it comes to drawing fouls and generating free throw attempts, as the Sycamores rank among the national leaders in free throws made and attempted.
The Blue and White enter the conference tournament ranked sixth nationally with 16.8 free throws made and 23.5 free throws attempted per game, while Indiana State's 20.3 fouls drawn per game ranks 15th nationally. Indiana State ranks second in the conference in all three categories, trailing only regular season champion Murray State in all three.
The Sycamores have made the most of their trips to the charity stripe since the start of conference play. Indiana State shot 74.5 percent from the line in its 20 MVC games, compared to a 65.8 percent mark on free throws in the Sycamores' 10 non-conference games. Four different Sycamores -
Jayci Allen (84.2 percent),
Tierney Kelsey (81.8 percent),
Kennedy Claybrooks (81.6 percent) and
Kayla Smith (81.6 percent) - shot better than 80 percent from the charity stripe in conference play, while
Samiyah Briggs (73.5 percent) and
Clemisha Prackett (70.5 percent) both shot better than 70 percent on free throws against Missouri Valley Conference opposition.
Off And Running
Indiana State has been at its best this season when getting out in transition, as the Sycamores averaged 18.9 fastbreak points per game in their nine wins this season. Four of those nine wins featured 20-plus fastbreak points for the Blue and White, including a season-high 33 fastbreak points in the Sycamores' New Year's Day win over Valparaiso.
Four of Indiana State's five games with 20-plus fastbreak points have resulted in wins for the Sycamores, with Indiana State's lone loss when scoring 20-plus fastbreak points coming against Bradley on February 7.
Indiana State's ability to get out in transition has been a major factor in the Sycamores' up-tempo offense, which is on pace for the program's highest-scoring season since the 2006-07 campaign. The Sycamores enter the conference tournament averaging 73.9 points per game, a mark which ranks second in the conference and 54th nationally this season. Indiana State has hit the 70-point mark in 20 games this season, with the Sycamores also owning a 3-1 mark when reaching the 80-point plateau.
Indiana State has not averaged more than 70 points in a season since accomplishing the feat in five straight seasons (2002-07) under Jim Wiedie. The 2025-26 season is projected to rank among the 10 highest-scoring seasons for the Sycamores in the Division I era.
TK Can Play
Indiana State sophomore guard
Tierney Kelsey led the Blue and White in scoring this season at 14.3 points per game, a mark which projects to be the highest-scoring season by a Sycamore since the 2012-13 campaign (Anna Munn, 14.6).
Kelsey's 14.3 points per game were the most in the conference among individuals who have started in less than half of their team's games. She scored in double-figures a team-leading 23 times, including five games with 20-plus points. Kelsey's 27-point performance at Northern Iowa was tied for the highest-scoring game by a Sycamore this season (
Amerie Flowers - 27 vs. Murray State).
Kelsey's 14.3 points per game marked a massive increase in production compared to her freshman season at Jackson State, where she averaged just 3.6 points per game in 30 contests for the Tigers. The sophomore guard set career highs in points (27 at Northern Iowa), rebounds (six at Northern Iowa), assists (seven at Western Kentucky and vs. UIC), field goals (eight at Austin Peay and at Northern Iowa), 3-pointers (five at Northern Iowa) and free throws (eight vs. Eastern Illinois, at SIU Edwardsville, vs. Northern Illinois and vs. Old Dominion).
Southern Illinois At A Glance
Southern Illinois enters the conference tournament at 10-19 overall and 7-13 in MVC play. The Salukis secured the eighth seed with their win over Evansville on the final day of the regular season.
Alayna Kraus leads the Salukis with 15.5 points per game and was a Third Team All-MVC selection. Indya Green nearly averages a double-double for Southern Illinois at 13.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, while Kayla Cooper also scores in double-figures at 10.9 points per game. Jeniah Thompson adds 9.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, while Tkiyah Nelson dishes out 4.2 assists per game.
Kelly Bond-White is in her fourth season as head coach at Southern Illinois and owns a 37-84 record at the helm of the Salukis. Bond-White is 6-4 all-time against Indiana State, including a 1-1 record in the MVC Tournament.
Series History Against Southern Illinois
Indiana State is 49-61 all-time against Southern Illinois, including a 7-7 mark at neutral sites.
The Sycamores won the last meeting 81-73 in Terre Haute and also won the last neutral site game (2024, 66-54).
Last Meeting Against Southern Illinois (Feb. 21, 2026)
Clemisha Prackett and
Kayla Smith scored 15 points apiece, as Indiana State pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Southern Illinois 81-73 on Senior Day inside Hulman Center.
Prackett also added a game-high 14 rebounds for her team-leading ninth double-double of the season, while
Tierney Kelsey chipped in 12 points off the bench, while
Da'Naria Washington added seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Kennedy Claybrooks dished out a game-high eight assists for the Sycamores.
Southern Illinois opened on a 7-0 run, but the Sycamores battled back to lead 21-18 after the opening quarter behind a trio of threes. Indiana State maintained its narrow lead into halftime, but SIU went ahead early in the third. After the Salukis briefly grabbed the lead in the third,
Jayci Allen answered with a fast-break three to spark an 8-0 run as the game entered the fourth tied at 56-56. Indiana State then used a decisive 17-5 stretch behind balanced scoring from Washington, Kelsey, Smith, Prackett. and Briggs to build a double-digit cushion. Despite a late Southern Illinois push, clutch free throws from Claybrooks sealed the 81-73 Senior Day win.
Up Next
The winner of Thursday's first round game will face regular season champion Murray State Friday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
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