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January 25, 2007 SYCAMORES GET DEFENSIVE IN 63-50 ROAD VICTORY OVER BRADLEY PEORIA, Ill. – The Indiana State women’s basketball team, ranked third nationally in scoring offense, turned defensive against Bradley to notch its first Missouri Valley Conference road victory of the season on Thursday night (Jan. 25). The Sycamores walked out of Robertson Field House with a 63-50 victory over the Braves. ISU improves to 11-8, 4-4 MVC and moves into a three-way deadlock with Northern Iowa and Creighton for fourth place in the Valley standings. Bradley fell to 7-12, 3-5 MVC. ISU clamped down on the Braves out of the gate, allowing just 23 Bradley points in the first half. Sophomore Leah Phillips got things for going for the Sycamores offensively with a 3-point basket on the second possession of the game for a quick 3-0 lead. With the score tied at 5, Amy Peters drilled a jump shot with 17:06 left in the first half to push Bradley out to a 7-5 advantage – the only time the Braves would lead during the game. Phillips answered with a driving lay-up of her own to knot the score at 7, and then freshman Kelsey Luna drilled the first of her two first half 3-pointers to give the Sycamores a 10-7 lead that they would never lose. Indiana State pushed the lead up to 14 points just before halftime when Angela Phillips drilled the Sycamores’ eighth first half 3-pointer for a 37-32 advantage. The Sycamore defense stood tall on Bradley’s final possession as an off balance 3-pointer by Devyn Flanagan missed wide left. Out of the lockeroom, Annie Bankhead hit a running jumper to give the Sycamores a 39-23 advantage, just 20 seconds into the second stanza. The Braves countered with a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to inch within six points, 39-33 when Kelly Krumwiedie drove in for an open lay-up with 15:23 left in the game. ISU stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws by senior Rachel Maenpaa to push the lead back to eight, 41-33, but Bradley scored the next three points to make it 41-36 with 12:37 remaining. That would be as close as Bradley would get. ISU turned on the jets and went on a quick 8-0 spurt which was capped by a running lay-up by Maenpaa to give ISU a 51-36 lead with 9:43 showing on the clock. Maenpaa’s jumper with 4:53 left in the game gave ISU its largest lead, 59-42. After shooting lights out from long distance in the opening half (hitting eight 3-pointers), the Sycamores pounded the ball inside in the second half as Maenpaa and Laura Rudolphi each finished with 10 points. Leah Phillips paced the Sycamore attack with 11 points, 10 of which were scored before intermission. The Sycamores out-rebounded the Braves by a 43-37 margin. Bradley was only able to convert 14 offensive rebounds into 10 points. Both struggled at times to find a shooting touch, as ISU went 0-for-7 from the three in the second half, hitting 38.1% of their triples for the game. The Sycamores shot 39.6% from the field for the game, but held Bradley to 31.3%. The Braves missed their first 13 3-pointers, hit their next two, and then missed their final three long range attempts. The Sycamores return to action on Saturday, January 27 when ISU travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa to take on Northern Iowa. Tip-off is slated for 5:05 p.m. (ET).
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