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February 2, 2007 SYCAMORES HOLD OFF SALUKIS SECOND HALF RALLY, DOWN MVC NO. 2 TEAM TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State sophomore guard Leah Phillips scored a career high 23 points and junior guard Angela Phillips dished out a team high seven assists as the Lady Sycamores upset the visiting Southern Illinois University Salukis 74-69 Friday night in the Hulman Center. “That’s one that we needed right there,” Jim Wiedie said. “This is a good way to kick off the week, beating the number two team in the conference. I am really proud of the way we finished the game tonight. We have let a couple of games get away from us late but this time the girls worked hard and finished hard.” The game was tied five times and the lead changed hands three times in the first half as Indiana State kept the momentum on their side for most of the opening period. The last tie came with 8:30 left when Southern Illinois tied the game at 18. The Lady Sycamores the next seven points to pull away from the Salukis. That lead grew to as many as 12 points last in the half and the Sycamores were up 40-30 at the intermission. Southern Illinois kept cutting into the ISU lead in the second half but could not get any closer than three. The Salukis cut the Sycamore lead to four with 12:42 left but Leah Phillips nailed a three-pointer to stop the SIU momentum. Indiana State was able to build an 11 point lead but SIU came back again. ISU had another four point lead when Leah Phillips hit her fourth trey of the game with 5:13 left to put ISU on top 67-60. The Sycamores would see their lead go down to just three points with 57.6 seconds left as SIU continued to fight back. However, ISU was able to stiffen their defense in the final seconds and Kelsey Luna iced the win with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left. “The starting five wants to go out there and get our shots early,” Leah Phillips said. “When I can hit the three pointer early, I get a lot of confidence. And I had a lot of confidence tonight.” Laura Rudolphi added that the bench really provided a spark for the team tonight. “Maria (Olsthoorn) really played well tonight,” Rudolphi said. “She got some big rebounds when we needed them.” Laura Rudolphi scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and two blocked shots. Maria Olsthoorn came off the bench to score nine points and pull down six rebounds. Indiana State (12-9 overall and 5-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference) will be back at home on Sunday as they host the Evansville Lady Aces in a 2:05 p.m. start. Southern Illinois (12-9 overall and 8-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference) will be at Illinois Start on Sunday.
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