Box Score WICHITA, Kan. – Redshirt junior forward Joyea Marshall tied a career-high 17 points in front of a hometown crowd, but Indiana State couldn't convert on last second shots as it dropped a heartbreaker to Wichita State on Saturday afternoon, 54-53.
In addition to her 17 points, Marshall grabbed six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Redshirt senior guard Cierra Ceazer chipped in 14 points on her 23rd night of double-digit scoring to go along with six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Freshman guard Tierra Webb came off the bench to grab a team and career-high nine rebounds while redshirt sophomore forward Ashley Taia grabbed seven. Redshirt junior forward Kelsey Dirks turned in a career-high five blocks in the loss, moving her season total to 50.
Indiana State will be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming “Hoops in the Heartland” Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday night, facing No. 3 seed Missouri State at 9:35 p.m. ET at the iWireless Center.
The Sycamores (33.9) posted a better shooting percentage than the Shockers (30.9) on the day but 18 turnovers led to 16 points and a sluggish second quarter led to the Sycamores' down fall.
Indiana State started off the contest hot, opening with an 11-0 run as Mackowiak scored five of the Sycamores first seven points leading to a Shocker timeout. The Sycamores held Wichita State without a field goal for the first 6:08 of the ballgame but an offensive drought cut the lead down to one at the end of the quarter, 15-14.
The slump lasted halfway into the second quarter allowing the Shockers to lead by as many as seven before Marshall completed conventional 3-point play with 4:59 to play. Marshall fed Dirks in from the right corner for the score to cut it down to three (24-21). Dirks' offensive board led to a Webb layup with 2:40 to play, but that would be the last field goal of the half for ISU -- who trailed the Shockers (28-23) at the break.
Mackowiak opened the third quarter with a three while Marshall muscled up for another 3-point play one minute into the half to take a 29-28 lead. WSU regained a lead less than 30 seconds later and Ceazer hit back-to-back buckets including a 3-pointer with 4:06 to play cut the deficit down to two (36-34). Indiana State knotted the score at 39-39 at the end of the third quarter on a dump off by Ceazer to Dirks on the left post with 20 seconds left.
The Shockers extended its lead to four just three minutes into the fourth quarter before Webb took it coast-to-coast for the fastbreak layup. Marshall made one at the line but it was Webb again who grabbed the offensive board and stuck it back in to tie it up at 46-46 with 4:19 to play.
WSU went back up by two on a pair at the line but a bucket from Rangie Bessard and two free throws by Diamond Lockhart made it a three point lead (50-47) with 1:54 to play. Marshall completed her third 3-point play of the day at 1:37 to cut the deficit back down two. Bessard retaliated with the bucket on the opposite end with 1:15 remaining as Ceazer drained a 3-pointer from the right wing with just under a minute to play.
After securing the Shockers' missed bucket, ISU got three chances to win the game – including two in the final five seconds – but all came up empty.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“For us, there are things we have to do on the defensive end, and we can't give away points with silly fouls and bailing them out in situations,” ISU head coach Joey Wells said. “We just have to do little things better and when you can't score you have to be better on the defensive end. They exposed our maturity factor and we got a little relaxed, lazy and sloppy with the ball. You just can't do that at a place like this.”
GAME CHANGER
Too many turnovers by the Sycamores (18) led to 16 points for the Shockers in the loss. ISU had three opportunities to win the game in the final 15 seconds of play but just couldn't find the back of the rim as it dropped the regular season finale.
SYCAMORE LEADERS
Points – J. Marshall (17)
Rebounds – T. Webb (9)
Assists – 4 players (2)
Steals – J. Marshall (2)
Blocks – K. Dirks (5)
ABOUT THE SQUAD
Field Goal % - 33.9
3-Point FG % - 20.0
Free Throw % - 46.7
Rebounds - 42
Assists – 11
Steals – 4
RECORDS
Indiana State: 13-16, 9-9 MVC
Wichita State: 8-21, 4-14 MVC
IMPORTANT NUMBERS
5 – Redshirt junior forward Kelsey Dirks had herself a block party, setting a career-high five and pushing her season total to 50
6 – Indiana State will be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming “Hoops in the Heartland” Missouri Valley Conference tournament in Moline, Ill. on Friday night. They will face No. 3 seed Missouri State at 9:35 p.m. ET at the iWireless Center.
9 – Freshman guard Tierra Webb set a new career-high with nine rebounds coming off the bench on Saturday
16 – Indiana State's 18 turnovers on the afternoon led to 16 Wichita State points
UP NEXT
The Sycamores begin play in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday night as the No. 6 seed versus the No. 3 seed Missouri State at 9:35 p.m. ET. The game from the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill. will be live on The Valley on ESPN3.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
