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January 27, 2007 INDIANA STATE FALLS LATE TO NORTHERN IOWA, 69-66 CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Indiana State led by as many as seven points in the final seven minutes of Saturday night’s (Jan. 27) Missouri Valley Conference tilt with Northern Iowa, but a trio of late Panther 3-pointers surged Northern Iowa to a 69-66 victory at McLeod Center. ISU falls to 11-9, 4-5 MVC while UNI improves to 11-9, 5-4 MVC. In a game that saw the scored knotted at 27 during halftime, the second half proved to be an up and down affair for both clubs. After a Jessie Biggs jumper pulled UNI within 52-49 and with just under eight minutes left in the game, ISU grabbed the seven point advantage on a jumper by Kelsey Luna and another by Laura Rudolphi. That 4-0 mini-spurt put ISU ahead 56-49 with 6:31 left in the game. Northern Iowa battled back with a 3-pointer from Biggs, who finished the game with 34 points. Biggs came right back with a free throw at the 4:51 mark, and then the game found itself tied at 56 on a trey by Sarah Larsen from the top of the key at the 3:44 mark. ISU regained control with a pair of Rudolphi foul shots for a 58-56 advantage. Tara King launched her lone 3-pointer of the game to give UNI a 59-58 lead that they would not lose. Biggs two free throws with 15 seconds on the clock gave UNI a 66-60 lead. Luna drilled a 3-pointer in transition to make the score 66-63 with 8.8 seconds left. After an Indiana State timeout, an apparent steal by Angela Phillips was taken away by a whistle for a foul on the UNI in-bounds play. Phillips was then whistled for a technical foul that all but ended the Sycamore hopes of a comeback. Biggs went down and hit 3-of-4 free throws to make the score 69-63. Luna drilled another 3-pointer to make it 69-66 with just under two seconds left. ISU could not foul again as UNI broke a five-game losing streak to the Sycamores with the 69-66 victory. Rudolphi paced ISU with 19 points in the game. Luna added 14, hitting 4-of-5 shots from long range. Overall, the Sycamores hit 8-of 14 3-pointers, for a blazing mark of 57.1%. The Sycamores out-rebounded their second opponent in a row, taking down 40 caroms to the Panthers’ 33. Indiana State grabbed 11 second chance points off 13 offensive rebounds. ISU finds itself in sixth place in the Valley standings after the first round of conference play. The Sycamores have a chance to improve their seeding next week when they host Southern Illinois as well as Evansville at Hulman Center. Tip-off on Friday, February 2 versus the Salukis is set for 7:05 p.m. (ET).
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