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Women?s Basketball Gameday Central: Sycamores Begin Weekend Road Swing Against Bears

Women's Basketball ISU Athletics

Women?s Basketball Gameday Central: Sycamores Begin Weekend Road Swing Against Bears

Danny Pfrank
GoSycamores.com
 

The Indiana State women's basketball team plays five of their next seven games away from Terre Haute, beginning with a trip to Springfield, Mo., to face the Missouri State Bears inside JQH Arena on Friday, Jan. 27, at 8:05 p.m. (ET). The game can also be seen live on ESPN3.com.

After starting out the Missouri Valley Conference season at 4-0, the Sycamores have dropped three straight games, including both games in a homestand last weekend to Creighton (64-62 on Jan. 20) and Drake (67-59 on Jan. 22). ISU's three-game losing streak is their longest under second-year head coach Teri Moren.


Indiana State has dropped three straight games in Springfield, with their last road win over Missouri State coming on Jan. 27, 2008 -- a 78-55 victory.


Senior Deja Mattox has led the Sycamores in league play, going over 10 points in each of her last six games while averaging 15.1 points per game in conference action. Fellow senior Brittany Schoen will be looking to eclipse to 1,000 point mark for her career on Friday, as she enters the game with 984 points over her career at Indiana State.


Scouting The Bears

Missouri State enters Friday's matchup at 11-6 on the season and 4-3 in MVC play, topping Evansville on the road the last time they took the court (Jan. 21). The Bears have won six straight homes game, dropping only their home opener to nationally-ranked Louisville (73-64)  on Nov. 13 this season. Senior Casey Garrison leads the team by averaging 18.0 points per game while also leading the way with 4.3 assists per game. Junior Christiana Shorter tops the roster by pulling down 7.3 rebounds per game, while joining Garrison in double figures at 13.2 points per night. As a team, Missouri State leads the league by averaging 72.8 points per game, the 32nd highest total in the country. ISU and MSU did not play a common opponent during the nonconference season.

A Little History
Friday's game with be the 61st all-time meeting between the Sycamores and Bears, with Missouri State leading the series by a 46-14 mark. ISU and MSU first met during the Sycamore Classic in the 1982-83 season, with the Sycamores coming out on top, 83-66. Missouri State swept all three meetings between the schools last season, and has won seven straight in the series overall. Indiana State has struggled on the road in Springfield throughout their history, as the Sycamores are just 3-28 against MSU on the road in their history.


Last Season Against Missouri State
The Bears won all three games with the Sycamores last season, coming out on top 65-54 in Springfield on Jan. 16, 63-50 in Terre Haute on Feb. 10 and 84-79 in the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., on March 12. Senior Brittany Schoen led the Sycamores by averaging 14.0 points per game over the matchups, while senior Shannon Thomas tallied 11.3 points, 13.7 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game.


Déjà Vu
Senior Deja Mattox leads the team by averaging 15.1 points per game in MVC play, going into double figures in each of the last six games. Mattox has topped her career high in scoring twice in the last five games, first setting the mark with 23 points against Illinois State on Jan. 6. The ISU senior posted another high mark on last Friday against Creighton, tossing in 25 points from the field, highlighted by a 10-for-11 effort from the free-throw line.


Closing In On 1,000 Points
Seniors Brittany Schoen and Deja Mattox are getting within striking distance of joining the 1,000 Point Club at Indiana State. Schoen sits at 984 (16 away) after tossing in 203 points this season. Mattox needs 89 more points to join the club, entering Friday's game with 911 for her career after scoring 231 this season. With the addition of senior Shannon Thomas earlier this season, the 1,000 Point Club at Indiana State currently holds 23 members, led by Amy Hile (1,944 -- 1983-87).


Hot Shooting In MVC Play
The Sycamores shot the ball well to start MVC play, going 156-of-369 (42.3%) from the field and 47-of-121 (38.8%) from long range. Indiana State entered the conference season shooting 37.7% as a team and 30.6% from beyond the arc as they finished their nonconference schedule at 6-6 overall.


Career Highs In League Play For Munn
Sophomore Anna Munn has tallied career highs in four different categories in ISU's seven MVC contests this season. The sophomore guard from Indianapolis scored 20 points against Evansville, dished out six assists against Southern Illinois and pulled down 12 boards against Illinois State as the Sycamores opened league play with three home wins. In ISU's last road game at Bradley, Munn blocked three shots while adding 20 points from the field.


Under 60
Indiana State is now 19-1 when holding their opposition under 60 points in their two seasons with head coach Teri Moren, including a 7-1 mark this season. During MVC games, ISU is 7-0 under head coach Moren when teams score 59 points or fewer. When teams go over 60 points against ISU in the last two seasons, the Sycamores are 7-24.


Stepping Up In Valley Play
After scoring just 11 points in nine games during the nonconference season, freshman Racheal Mahan has stepped up her game during MVC play. In ISU's seven league games, the Mansfield, Ohio, native is averaging 6.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Mahan posted a career-high of 12 points with five rebounds and three blocks last Sunday against Drake.


10-And-10
Senior Shannon Thomas is close to averaging a double-double this season, checking into Sunday's game at 12.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Thomas is looking to be the third Sycamore to average 10-and-10 for a single season, joining Georgia Bottoms (15.1 points, 10.6 rebounds -- 1994-95) and Tammy Hammel (10.4 points, 10.0 rebounds -- 1984-85).


Schoen Moves Up Three-Point List
Senior Brittany Schoen continues to march up the Indiana State career standings for three-point field goals made, currently sitting in third place with 244 for her career. The Elizabeth, Ind., product passed Lisa Verhoff (214 -- 2002-06) to enter the top of three with her third trey of the game at UIC on Friday, Dec. 2. Kelsey Luna (263 -- 2006-10) and Kourtney Mennen (256 -- 1999-03) hold down the top two spots at Indiana State. In the MVC, Schoen sits in 11th place, needing five more to pass Michelle Nason of Bradley (248 -- 1992-95).


Joining The Club
Senior Shannon Thomas became the 23rd member of the 1,000 Point Club at Indiana State when she scored a career high 31 points in ISU's 67-59 victory on the road at Chicago State. Entering Friday's game with Missouri State, the senior center checks in with 1,108 career points. Thomas currently sits in 19th for points scored at Indiana State, needing five more points to pass Trish Porter (1,112 -- 1972-76) for 18th place.


More Than Half
Senior Brittany Schoen has pushed her career total for triples to 244 this season while fellow senior Shannon Thomas has upped her blocked shots count to 199. Both of those totals rank higher than the rest of the 2011-12 Sycamores put together, as the remaining roster checks in with 226 treys and 80 rejections. Senior Deja Mattox is second to both of her fellow seniors in each category, totaling 109 three-pointers and 32 blocks for her career.


1,000 And 700
With her 31 points at Chicago State on Tuesday, Dec. 20, senior Shannon Thomas became just the fifth player in Indiana State history to record 1,000 points and 700 rebounds for her career. The four other members of the group at ISU are: Amy Hile (1,944 points and 916 rebounds -- 1983-87), Barbara Graves (1,498 points and 898 rebounds -- 1979-83), Judy Ellner (1,367 points and 856 rebounds -- 1978-82) and Livia Hester (1,332 points and 753 rebounds -- 1992-96).


Double-Doubles
Senior center Shannon Thomas recorded her 26th career double-double on Thursday, Jan. 12, at UNI, scoring 18 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. In those 26 games that Thomas has went over 10-and-10, the Sycamores have gone 15-11 overall and 11-5 in conference/tournament play. ISU is 4-4 this season when Thomas records a double-double. Senior Deja Mattox (12 points, 10 rebounds vs. Butler) and sophomore Anna Munn (15 points, 10 rebounds vs. UT Martin / 12 points, 12 rebounds vs. Illinois State) have also posted double-doubles this season, the first Sycamores other than Thomas to do so since the 2009-10 season when Kelsey Luna went for 17 points and 10 rebounds against Missouri State on Feb. 2, 2010.


Sending It Back
Senior Shannon Thomas is the career leader in blocked shots at Indiana State, entering Friday's game with 199 career rejections. The Springboro, Ohio, product passed Laura Rudolphi for the school record last season, currently sitting in fifth place in MVC history and needing 20 more to pass Tammi Blackstone of Drake (218 -- 1996-2000) for fourth place.


On To The Next One...
ISU returns to the court on Sunday, Jan. 29, with a 3:05 p.m. (ET) matchup at Wichita State.

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Players Mentioned

Deja Mattox

#13 Deja Mattox

G/F
6' 0"
Freshman
Brittany Schoen

#1 Brittany Schoen

G
5' 6"
Freshman
Shannon Thomas

#5 Shannon Thomas

C
6' 4"
Freshman
Anna Munn

#33 Anna Munn

G
5' 10"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Deja Mattox

#13 Deja Mattox

6' 0"
Freshman
G/F
Brittany Schoen

#1 Brittany Schoen

5' 6"
Freshman
G
Shannon Thomas

#5 Shannon Thomas

6' 4"
Freshman
C
Anna Munn

#33 Anna Munn

5' 10"
Freshman
G