Women's Basketball February 09, 2008 ISU Athletics

Sycamores Fall At Northern Iowa As Panthers Come Back In Second Half

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ? Indiana State put four scorers in double figures and held an 11-point halftime lead over UNI, but the Sycamores surrendered 44 second half points as the Panthers came from behind to earn a hard-fought 68-65 victory in front of 480 fans at McLeod Center.

ISU falls to 10-11, 4-7 MVC while UNI improved to 9-13, 5-6 MVC to take over sole possession of sixth place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

UNI grabbed one of its two leads of the first half on its first possession, when Danielle Wubbens drained a jumper from the corner for a quick 2-0 lead. The Sycamores gained control of the scoreboard on their next possession when sophomore Kelsey Luna hit a 3-pointer in transition to make it 3-2 with still not a minute ticked off the clock. After a defensive stop, senior center Laura Rudolphi hit a quick turnaround jumper in the paint to make it 5-2.

With the Sycamores trailing 8-7, senior Angela Phillips and junior Leah Phillips connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to grab a 13-8 advantage with 15:02 left in the first half. Meanwhile, Indiana State cranked things up on the defensive end as well as the Sycamores held the Panthers to a three minute scoring drought from the 16:30 mark until the 13:30 mark and then crippled their offense again from the 11 minute point until freshman Jacqui Kalin hit a jumper with 8:31 left in the half to make the score 21-15 in favor of ISU.

After a Lizzie Boeck lay-up made it 21-19 with 7:06 left, the Sycamores' defense really got things heated up not allowing another UNI point until the 1:29 mark as they raced out to a 32-19 lead on a conventional 3-point play by sophomore Maria Olsthoorn.

A 3-pointer by UNI's Traci Ollendieck made it 32-24, but Rudolphi added a traditional 3-point play of her own with just under 30 seconds left to give the Sycamores a 35-24 lead that they would carry into the half.

The Sycamores hit five 3-pointers in the first half, two each from Luna and Angela Phillips as well as another by Leah Phillips. Luna paced the team with eight first half points. The Sycamores connected on 5-of-13 shots from long range, plus hit 46.7% of their field goal attempts. The Sycamore defense was able to keep the Panthers at bay, holding them to just 26.7% shooting.

Indiana State was able to stretch its lead out to a game-high 15 points at 43-28 with 16:20 left in the contest on a pair of free throws by freshman Kelsie Cooley, but the Panthers got right back into the game on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes which was capped by a fast break lay-up from Kalin at the 12 minute mark to make the score, 43-38.

Rudolphi converted 1-of-2 free throws with 11:13 left to push the Sycamores ahead 44-38, but a jumper by Wuebbens, another by Kalin and 3-pointer by Boeck put UNI ahead for the first time since early in the first half as they took a 45-44 lead with just over 10 minutes to go.

Angela Phillips helped the Sycamores regain its lead with her third 3-pointer of the game with 8:49 left, breaking a two and half minute scoring drought to put ISU ahead 47-45. Boeck continued her strong push in the Panthers' second half comeback (attempt) as she scored her 11th point after intermission to knot the game at 47 all on their next possession.

The punches continued to be thrown in both directions as Kalin gave the Panthers a 49-47 lead, but Angela Phillips hit a 3-ponter with 8:49 left to give the Sycamores a 50-49 advantage. Angela Phillips hit a running jumper with 6:13 left to give ISU a 52-49 cushion, but Kalin hit a 3-pointer to knot the game at 52 all. Leah Phillips hit a 3-pointer to make it 55-52 ISU, but UNI was able to rattle off the game's next six points to take a 58-55 lead with just under four minutes remaining.

The Panthers went up 62-57 on a put-back by Boeck, and the Sycamores did not quit. Rudolphi converted yet another traditional 3-point play with 1:18 left to make it 62-60, but the Sycamores gave up another lay-in to push UNI back ahead 64-60 with just under a minute remaining. After an empty Sycamore possession, Kalin hit a pair of free throws for UNI as they ran their lead out to 66-60. Angela Phillips was able to get to foul line and convert two free throws with 13 seconds left to make it 66-62. The Sycamores fouled Boeck and she missed both free throws, before Leah Phillips then connected on her third triple of the game to get the Sycamores within striking distance at 66-65 with 5.2 seconds left.

ISU forced the Panthers to burn their final time-out as they could not get the ball put in-bounds, but on their second attempt UNI found Kalin and she was fouled. Kalin converted both of her charity tosses with 4.2 seconds left to put UNI ahead 68-65 and a last second look from 3-point land by Luna was partially blocked as the horn sounded to send ISU to another Valley road defeat.

The Sycamores were paced in the game by Olsthoorn and Leah Phillips who scored 13 points each. Angela Phillips hit three 3-pointers in the game as well to add 13 points also and Rudolphi scored 11.

The Panthers scored 44 second half points to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit. Boeck paced the Panthers with 18 points while Kalin scored 17.

ISU held a halftime advantage for the sixth time in the last seven games, but dropped to a disappointing 2-4 in those games.

The Indiana State Sycamores return to action on Friday, February 15 when they host league-leading Illinois State at Hulman Center. The game, which is ISU's “Think Pink” contest to help raise awareness and money for the Susan G. Koman For The Cure and help fight breast cancer, is set for an 8:30 p.m. (EST) tip-off. The battle between the ?Birds and Sycamores will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest.

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Players Mentioned

#45 Laura Rudolphi: F; 6' 2"; Freshman

#1 Angela Phillips: G; 5' 5"; Junior

#10 Leah Phillips: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

#3 Kelsey Luna: G; 5' 5"; Freshman

#31 Kelsie Cooley: F; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#45 Laura Rudolphi
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: F

#1 Angela Phillips
: 5' 5"; Junior
: G

#10 Leah Phillips
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G

#3 Kelsey Luna
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: G

#31 Kelsie Cooley
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: F