The Basics ? Indiana State's two-game non-conference road swing continues on Friday evening when the Sycamores travel to Southeast Missouri State in a post-Thanksgiving special at the Show Me Center. ISU used 10 3-pointers to post a 74-60 victory on Tuesday night at Detroit, just four days after the Titans downed No. 23 nationally-ranked Georgia. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. (ET).
Series Notes ? Indiana State and Southeast Missouri State meet for the fourth time on the hardwood, this time on Friday evening at the Show Me Center. ISU holds a 3-0 lead in the all-time series, including a 1-0 mark in games played at Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Sycamores have also won one time against SEMO at Hulman Center and once in St. Louis, Mo. The last time these two teams met was in 2002 when the Sycamores opened the Saint Louis Billiken Classic with an 81-72 victory over the RedHawks.
On The Air ? Friday night's tilt can be heard live on WSDM 92.7 FM in the Wabash Valley. Brent Holl will provide the play-by-play while Ace Hunt will provide color commentary. The game can also be heard live via the internet at crock927.com and GoSycamores.com. The Jim Wiedie Coaches' Show airs on Thursday nights during the non-conference portion of the schedule, with the next broadcast coming on December 4 live on ESPN Radio 1300 AM.
About The Indiana State Coach ? Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie is in his ninth year at the helm of the Sycamore women's basketball program. The 2003 and 2006 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Wiedie led the Sycamores to the conference's outright regular season championship in 2006 and has guided ISU into the postseason in three of the last five years. He is 142-94 at Indiana State, and is facing SEMO for the second time as the program's head coach, owning a 1-0 record. Wiedie is 10-1 against members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
About The SEMO Coach ? Southeast Missouri State is led by third-year head coach John Ishee, who has compiled a 50-18 record. In his five seasons as a collegiate head coach, Ishee is 79-39. He has never faced Indiana State.
Wiedie In Non-Conference Games ? The Sycamores have compiled a 48-25 record in regular season non-conference games under Jim Wiedie, including a 23-5 mark in regular season non-conference games played at Hulman Center.
Wiedie In Conference Games ? 2008-09 will mark the ninth conference season for Jim Wiedie at the helm of the Sycamores. In The Valley, Wiedie is 86-58, highlighted by his 16-2 championship season in 2005-06 as well as a pair of 13-5 finishes in 2002-03 (shared regular season title) and 2004-05. At Hulman Center, Wiedie is nearly unstoppable, boasting a 54-17 mark in regular season home MVC games, including three 8-1 seasons. In two of the past three seasons, Wiedie led the Sycamores to back-to-back eight win conference home records. Wiedie's 86 Missouri Valley Conference victories are the most conference triumphs by a Sycamore head coach, and are also the most by any active coach in the league. His 86 career MVC victories rank eighth all-time in Valley history. He needs two more Valley victories to tie Eastern Illinois' Barbara Hilke for seventh.
Defensive Lockdown ? Indiana State held Detroit scoreless for two long stretches of their game on Tuesday evening as the Sycamore defense did not allow a point for over 15 minutes of the game in succession. The first string was over 10 minutes long in the first half as ISU put together an 18-0 run to erase a four-point deficit and turn it into a 30-16 advantage and then the Sycamores held the Titans without a point for just over five minutes straight in the second half en route to a 74-60 victory.
Balanced Budget ? The Indiana State Sycamores put four different scorers in double figures as part of the 74-60 victory over Detroit on Tuesday night. For the third consecutive game, Kelsey Luna paced the team with 18 points while Leah Phillips added 15 and Kelsie Cooley and Deja Mattox posted 10. The balance continued off the bench as Shannon Thomas scored nine points and Brittany Schoen scored eight.
Lunar Landing ? Junior point guard Kelsey Luna has led Indiana State in scoring through each of the first three games, scoring 24 points in the season opener against Central Michigan and then scoring 18 points against both Marquette and Detroit. For the season Luna has hit nearly 50 percent of her shots from the field, including an 11-of-27 mark from 3-point land through the first three games of the season. Luna has scored 60 points in the early going, averaging 20 ppg, which ranks second-best in the MVC through the first two weeks of the season.
TAG! You're It, No, You're It! ? Senior Leah Phillips and junior Kelsey Luna are both climbing the Sycamore record book in career 3-point field goals made. Both came into the Detroit contest with 149 career 3-pointers and each connected on a trio of triples versus the Titans to give both 152 career long-range field goals heading into Friday evening's game at Southeast Missouri State. Those 152 3-pointers are tied for fifth-best in the history of the program, which is just 14 treys shy of April Kirby for fourth place.
Finding 15 ? Ninth-year Indiana State head coach Jim Wiedie enters the Southeast Missouri State contest with 142 career victories, needing just 15 more to catch Edith Godleski for the school record to become the school's all-time winningest coach by both total wins and percentage. Catching Godleski would be no small feat, as she will be inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame this winter. Godleski coaches the Sycamores for the first 11 seasons of the program from 1971-82.
Preseason Predictions ? The Indiana State Sycamores were picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference in a preseason poll of league media, head coaches and sports information directors. Last season, the Sycamores finished sixth and narrowly fell in the first round of the State Farm MVC Tournament by a score of 69-63 to No. 3 Drake.
Academic Run Continues ? For the seventh consecutive season, the Indiana State women's basketball program was noted for its high academic achievements under head coach Jim Wiedie. The Sycamore women's basketball team finished ranked third in the most recent Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Team Honor Roll for NCAA Division I in team grade point average with a stellar mark of 3.59.
The Last Time Out ? The Indiana State Sycamores put four scorers in double figures and held Detroit scoreless for a pair of long stretches that totaled nearly 15 minutes en route to earning a 74-60 victory over Detroit in front of 237 fans at Calihan Hall.
ISU earned their first victory of the season to move to 1-2 on the season while Detroit fell to 1-3. The Titans were coming off a win over No. 23 nationally-ranked Georgia four days earlier.
“It's nice to get the first win of the season,” head coach Jim Wiedie said. “I was a little disappointed in the energy level at certain points, and there were numerous opportunities to put them away in the second half, but we just couldn't quite get over that hump. The areas that we struggled in are areas that we control such as energy level. We are just happy to get out of here with a win.”
The Sycamores built a lead in the first half with an impressive 18-0 run which covered over ten minutes. Detroit took a 14-8 lead on a 3-point field goal by Chanica Hall with 13:51 on the clock and didn't score another point until Shandi Brown hit a pair of free throws with 3:05 on the clock before intermission.
Indiana State led by as many as 14 in the first half as a lay-up by Kelsie Cooley topped the 18-point spurt with 3:46 left before halftime. A 3-point basket by Detroit with less than a minute left edge the Titans back to within seven points at the half, 35-28.
The defense was able to get it cranked up again in the second half by forcing another Detroit dry spell in the second half as Brigid Mulroy hit a 3-pointer with 15:55 and the Titans did not score again until the 10:30 mark when Multory connected on her second of three second half 3-pointers. By the time Mulroy hit that triple, the Sycamores held a 51-38 advantage.
The Sycamore lead would balloon up to as many as 14 points twice, including following a pair of Leah Phillips free throws with 25 seconds left to give the Sycamores the 74-60 victory.
Indiana State was paced by junior Kelsey Luna with 18 points. She hit 6-of-11 shots from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers. Leah Phillips poured in 15 points of her own as she hit a trio of triples as well. Both Luna and Phillips now have 152 career 3-pointers and are tied for fifth in the school's record books.
Sophomore Kelsie Cooley found double figures scoring again with 10 points while freshman Deja Mattox scored 10 as well. Freshman Shannon Thomas connected on 4-of-5 shots from the field to score nine points while Brittany Schoen scored eight off the bench on the strength of a pair of 3-pointers.
For the game, ISU hit 10 3-point field goals and was 12-of-14 from the free throw line. ISU out-rebounded the Titans by a 37-32 margin.
Mulroy hit 5-of-12 shots from 3-point range to lead all scorers with 21 points for Detroit.
Both teams turned the ball over heavily, with ISU forcing 17 Detroit turnovers and converting them into 28 points while the 18 Sycamore miscues only led the 21 Titans points.
The game marked the first time this season that ISU held a halftime lead, as the Sycamores held a 35-28 advantage at intermission.
Up Next ? The Indiana State Sycamores return home to take on Arkansas State on Tuesday, December 2 on the Nellie & John Wooden Court at Hulman Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. (EDT) and can be heard live on WSDM 92.7FM and on the internet at GoSycamores.com.
