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February 4, 2007 COURTNEY FELKE'S BUZZER BEATER LIFTS EVANSVILLE TO LAST SECOND WIN TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State junior center Laura Rudolphi scored the final two of her career-high tying 23 points with just over 11 seconds left to tie a tight Missouri Valley Conference game with Evansville, but the Purple Aces countered with a buzzer beater to leave Hulman Center with a hard-fought 63-61 win. ISU fell to 12-10, 5-6 MVC while Evansville improved to 14-8, 7-4 MVC. Rudolphi drove strong to the basket and went through a pair of Evansville defenders to tie the game at 61 with just over 11 seconds left. It was the sixth time that the two teams found themselves tied in the game. Evansville defeated Indiana State earlier this season in overtime at Roberts Stadium. It appeared that Rudolphi’s score would send the season series into its second overtime of the year. After an Evansville timeout, the Sycamore played tight defense when Felke leaned over her defender and banked home a game-winning running lay-up with 0.2 seconds showing on the game clock. Felke’s score gave UE a 63-61 advantage. ISU could not get off a last second shot before time expired. “That was disappointing,” head coach Jim Wiedie said. “We had a seven point lead and have the opportunity to put them away, but we didn’t. We just can not have defensive mistakes late in the game. This game was lost around the seven minute mark of the second half, not in the final seconds.” Rudolphi scored her 23 points by hitting 9-of-16 shots from the field and 5-of-7 attempts at the free throw line. She added seven rebounds and three blocked shots. “I thought Rudy did a real nice job today,” Wiedie commented. “There are times when she fades a bit on her shots. She didn’t do that today; she was being aggressive and was a major weapon for us all day.” Sophomore Leah Phillips added 14, hitting four treys in the game. She was 4-of-6 from long distance. After another close loss, the Sycamores find themselves in sixth place in the league. ISU hits the road for its next three games against Missouri State, Wichita State and Illinois State. Next up for ISU is the Lady Bears on Thursday, February 8 at Hammons Student Center. Tip-off is set for 8:05 p.m. (ET) and can be heard on WISU-FM.
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