TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State plays its final road game of the 2025-26 season Saturday evening when it faces Belmont for a 5 p.m. tip in the Music City.
 
Thursday's game will be aired on ESPN+, with Chris Machado (play-by-play) and Nyah Wilson (analyst) on the call. John Sherman will also have the radio call on WFNB-FM The Fanbase (99.5 and 106.9 FM).
 
Last Time Out
Indiana State and Belmont were neck-and-neck for the majority of the first 30 minutes Saturday evening, before the homestanding Bruins pulled away to defeat the Sycamores 88-79 inside the Curb Event Center.
 
Clemisha Prackett paced the Blue and White with a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds, with Kennedy Claybrooks adding 12 points and nine assists to finish just shy of a double-double. Da'Naria Washington tacked on 11 points and seven rebounds for the Sycamores.
 
Indiana State kept pace with Belmont for most of the first half with a balanced attack, as four different Trees had at least seven points in the opening 20 minutes. A 13-0 Bruin run spanning parts of the second and third was answered by the Sycamores, as Indiana State pulled within three midway through the third. Belmont iced the game with a 10-0 fourth quarter run, holding off an Indiana State rally despite a 9-0 run for the Sycamores to close the game.
 
Moo's Monster Week
Indiana State junior forward Clemisha Prackett put together her most productive week in a Sycamore uniform in the final road trip of the season, averaging 21.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game against the top two teams in the conference, Murray State and Belmont.
 
Prackett produced a 21-point, 18-rebound double-double against Murray State, with her 18 rebounds being tied for fourth-most in a game in program history. Her 18 rebounds were the most by a Sycamore in a game since Mya Glanton also tallied 18 rebounds against Murray State on Jan. 11, 2024.
 
The West Memphis, Arkansas, native poured in a career-high 22 points in Indiana State's last game at Belmont, also adding in eight rebounds against the Bruins. Prackett became the first Sycamore with back-to-back 20-point game since Keslyn Secrist accomplished the feat against Murray State and Belmont in the final week of the 2024-25 season.
 
Prackett was named MVC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season for her efforts against the Bruins and Racers, shooting 16-for-28 from the field (57.1 percent) and 11-for-13 from the charity stripe (84.6 percent) against the top two teams in the conference.
 
Stepping Up
Indiana State graduate guard Da'Naria Washington made the most of her opportunity against the top two teams in the conference, scoring in double-figures in both ends of the Sycamores' final road trip of the 2025-26 season. Washington averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in Indiana State's two-game swing against Murray State and Belmont, shooting 10-for-19 from the field (52.6 percent) against the Racers and Bruins.
 
Washington tallied one of her most productive outings at Murray State, finishing with 16 points and four assists against the Racers while shooting 60 percent from the floor. 11 of Washington's 16 points came in the first half, with the Indianapolis native being an early spark in an otherwise rough start for the Sycamores against the conference champions.
 
Playing in her final road game as a Sycamore, Washington finished with 11 points and seven rebounds against Belmont. The seven rebounds were tied for her second-most in a game this season, with the guard recording back-to-back double-figure outings for the second time in conference play this season.
 
Dishing Out Dimes
Indiana State senior guard Kennedy Claybrooks has been among the assist leaders in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, with her 4.9 assists per game ranking third in the conference.
 
The Memphis native has dished out five or more assists in 11 games this season, with seven of those games coming against conference foes. Claybrooks dished out nine assists in the Sycamores' last game at Belmont and also finished with eight assists in Indiana State's Senior Day win over Southern Illinois. She also has a pair of games this season with 10-plus assists, with 10 against Murray State and 11 against Bradley.
 
Claybrooks' 4.9 assists per game are on paces to be the most by a Sycamore since the 2006-07 season, when Angela Phillips averaged 5.3 assists per game for the Sycamores. She would become the second straight Sycamore point guard to average more than 4.5 assists per game (Deja Jones - 4.7 in 2024-25), after Indiana State went nearly 15 years without a single player averaging at least 4.5 assists per game.
 
Off And Running
Indiana State has placed an emphasis on its up-tempo offense this season, with the Sycamores on pace for their highest-scoring season since the 2006-07 campaign. The Trees are poised to surpass 70 points per game for the first time in nearly 20 years and just the sixth time in the last 30 years, with the Blue and White currently averaging 74.0 points per game.
 
Indiana State has scored at least 70 points in 19 of its 29 games this season, including five games with 80-plus points. The Sycamores rank second in the MVC and 53rd nationally in scoring offense, with the Blue and White set to finish the season in the top 100 nationally in scoring for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign. Indiana State has not ranked this highly in scoring offense since a five-year stretch from 2002-07 which featured four top-10 nationally ranked scoring offenses.
 
A major factor behind Indiana State's ability to score at a high rate is the Sycamores' pace of play under head coach Marc Mitchell. The Blue and White enter Thursday's game ranked sixth nationally with 78.4 possessions per 40 minutes, the most among any school in the MVC. Indiana State has ranked in the top 20 nationally in possessions per 40 minutes in each of Mitchell's first two seasons as head coach of the Sycamores, with the Trees' 75.9 possessions per 40 minutes in the 2024-25 season ranking 17th nationally. The 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons mark Indiana State's only seasons ranked inside the top 50 in pace within the last 15 seasons.
 
No Start, No Problem
Indiana State's rotation is unique, in that the Sycamores' three leading scorers this season have primarily come off the bench. Tierney Kelsey (14.2 points per game) and Clemisha Prackett (11.0) both average double-figures off the bench, while Jayci Allen adds just shy of 10 points per game off the pine for the Blue and White
 
The Sycamore bench unit has been one of the most productive in the nation this season, entering Thursday's regular season finale ranked third overall at 32.4 points per game. Indiana State trails only a pair of top-25 teams in LSU and Louisville in bench scoring this season, while being one of just six teams this season averaging more than 30 bench points per game. Indiana State and Drake (25.9) are the only teams in the MVC averaging more than 25 bench points per game.
 
Indiana State's bench has upped its production in recent weeks, with the Sycamores producing 40-plus bench points in each of their last three games. The Sycamores outscored Southern Illinois 44-9 in bench points in their 81-73 Senior Day win over the Salukis, as four different Sycamore reserves had at least seven points in the victory for the Blue and White. Indiana State tallied 42 bench points in both of its road games against Murray State and Belmont, with Clemisha Prackett coming off the bench to score 20-plus points against both the Racers and Bruins. Tierney Kelsey added 16 off the bench at Murray State.
 
Indiana State has produced eight games this season with 40-plus bench points, with five of those eight games coming against conference foes.
 
On This Date
Indiana State owns a 5-13 record in games played on this date, including a 2-4 record in home games played on this date.
 
The Sycamores have never played Northern Iowa on this day and last played on this day in 2022.
 
1976 – at Ball State (W, 76-68)
1977 – vs. Indiana (L, 53-58)
1982 – vs. Ball State (L, 51-71)
1984 – at Southern Illinois (L, 61-101)
1986 – Illinois State (L, 70-77)
1994 – at Bradley (W, 87-82)
1995 – at Creighton (L, 102-110)
1998 – vs. Illinois State (W, 67-58)
1999 – vs. Creighton (L, 54-76)
2003 – Illinois State (W, 74-54)
2005 – Illinois State (W, 68-48)
2009 – at Creighton (L, 32-54)
2011 – at Bradley (L, 69-77)
2015 – Missouri State (L, 56-65)
2016 – at Wichita State (L, 53-54)
2020 – Bradley (L, 59-68)
2021 – at Bradley (L, 52-86)
2022 – Drake (L, 71-86)
 
Northern Iowa At A Glance
Northern Iowa enters Thursday's game at 15-13 overall and 11-7 in conference play. The Panthers have won two straight, including an 82-62 victory over UIC in their last game.
 
Ryley Goebel leads the Panthers with 14.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, with sharpshooter Jenna Twedt also scoring in double-figures at 14.0 points per game. Elise Jaeger averages a team-leading 10.2 rebounds per game and has dished out a team-high 74 assists. Goebel leads the MVC with 2.7 blocks per game and also ranks third in the conference with 1.9 steals per game.
 
Tanya Warren is in her 19th season as head coach at Northern Iowa and owns a 354-257 record at the helm of the Panthers. Warren has led the Panthers to 14 postseason apperances during her time in Cedar Falls, including three NCAA Tournament berths.
 
Series History Against Northern Iowa
Indiana State is 42-45 all-time against Northern Iowa, including a 24-18 mark in Terre Haute. The Panthers have won 10 straight in the series, including a 91-78 victory in Cedar Falls earlier this season.
 
The Sycamores' last win in the series came in Terre Haute during the 2019-20 season.
 
Last Meeting Against Northern Iowa (Feb. 12, 2026)
Playing with just nine available players, Indiana State gave homestanding Northern Iowa everything it could handle on the road. The Sycamores nearly overcame a 16-point deficit, but ran out of gas late in a 91-79 defeat inside McLeod Center.
 
Tierney Kelsey led the Trees with a career-high 27 points and six rebounds, while Jayci Allen and Clemisha Prackett came off the bench to score in double-figures with 13 and 12, respectively. Samiyah Briggs added 10 points, with Allen also leading the Blue and White with eight rebounds.
 
After a rough first quarter which saw the Sycamores give up seven threes, the Blue and White found their stride in the middle frames. Indiana State got 11 points between Allen and Kelsey in the second to pull within five at the break, with the Trees briefly taking a lead in the third quarter after trailing by as many as 16. UNI took the lead back midway through the third, but the Sycamores kept pace thanks to 10 points in the period from Kelsey. Indiana State was within two possessions with less than four minutes remaining, but the Trees were unable to complete the comeback as Northern Iowa held off a resilient Sycamore effort.
 
Up Next
Indiana State turns its attention to the MVC Tournament in Coralville, Iowa, with the Sycamores slated to play at either 4:30 or 7 p.m. in the opening round March 12.
 
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