Indiana State University : Intercollegiate Athletics : Athletics Media Relations

February 10, 2007
Women’s Basketball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LATE FIRST HALF SPURT, HOT SECOND HALF SHOOTING PACE ISU TO ROAD VICTORY OVER WICHITA STATE

WICHITA, Kan. – Indiana State turned a slim one-point lead with 16 seconds left in the first half into a five-point advantage at the half, and eventually a 17-point victory as ISU swept the Missouri State/Wichita State roadswing for the first time since 1989 with a 73-56 victory over the Shockers on Saturday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena. ISU improves to 14-10, 7-6 MVC while Wichita State falls to 8-13, 3-8 MVC.

The Shockers’ Alex Bunton hit back-to-back second chance lay-ups to trim a 25-18 Sycamore lead with just over two minutes left down to just one at 25-24 with 16 seconds showing before intermission. Leah Phillips hit a driving lay-up to stretch the lead back to three points, 27-24 with 2.4 seconds on the clock and drew a foul. Her free throw missed, but Kara Schilli was right there to get the offensive rebound and put the ball back into the bucket at the buzzer to send ISU sprinting back to the locker room with a 29-24 lead.

Wichita State’s Marcy Sudbeck scored two of her 19 points out of the gate to trim the Sycamore lead back to three, 29-26 with 19:15 left in the game. That would be as close as the Shockers would get the rest of the way.

ISU stretched its lead in the second half thanks to the hot 3-point shooting of Kelsey Luna. The Sycamores did not hit any of their nine 3-point attempts in the first half, but Luna hit four by herself in the second half as ISU raced ahead of the Shockers.

“Kelsey provided a spark for us in the second half,” head coach Jim Wiedie said. “We were struggling to hit shots early, but once she got that first one we were able to give her a greener light and she continued to knock down some big shots late as the lead continued to build.”

Luna’s fourth 3-pointer of the second stanza came at a point when Wichita State had gotten within nine points, 62-53 with 5:40 left. She drilled one from the top of circle that was a dagger in the Shockers’ come back hopes and pushed the lead back to 12.

From that point on, ISU finished the game on an 8-3 spurt to win, 73-56.

Both teams battled foul trouble in the game as the Shockers were really hurt by untimely fouls by Preseason All-MVC picks Antoinette Wells and Kiki Stephens. Stephens finished with just 11 points while Wells had three. Wells did not play earlier in the season against Indiana State because of a one-game suspension for fighting as the Sycamores won 96-63. The story was much the same with her on the Shockers’ home court with the 73-56 victory.

“One of our big keys to victory was to get Wells and Stephens into foul trouble, and force them to have to sit on the bench,” Wiedie said. “We were aggressive on offense and we took some big charges on the defensive end to get those two in foul trouble.”

ISU suffered from poor free throw shooting in the game, hitting just 5-of-15 shots from the free throw line. The Sycamores were just 5-of-12 from the charity stripe in the first half.

Going against one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, ISU excelled by out-rebounding the Sycamores 42-38. The Sycamores have out-rebounded the Shockers in consecutive games this year, after WSU had pulled down more caroms in the 11 previous meetings.

With the victory, ISU has swept the Missouri State/Wichita State roadswing for the first time since the 1989 season. The Sycamores have won each of the last seven meetings against Wichita State, including each of the last three meetings at Charles Koch Arena.

“These were two real big wins from our program, and for our kid’s confidence level,” Wiedie said. “We haven’t won these two road games in the same season since 1989, and as successful as we have been the last four years, this was something we have not been able to do. It is satisfying for this group of start their own tradition and etch their name into some of their own records.”

Luna paced the team with 20 points in the game, hitting 8-of-16 shots from the field, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Rachel Maenpaa added 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while Maria Olsthoorn scored 12.

Indiana State returns to action on Sunday, February 19 when they travel to Illinois State for a rematch with the league-leading Redbirds at Redbird Arena. The ‘Birds took the first meeting of the year, 89-81 at Hulman Center. Tip-off is set for 3:05 p.m. (ET).