TERRE HAUTE — Between Kelsey Luna, Brittany Schoen and Deja Mattox, the Indiana State women’s basketball team knows it will have one of the best offensive backcourts in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Consistent post scoring is another story.
In Sunday’s final exhibition game — a 65-48 victory over Southern Indiana — 6-foot-4 sophomore Shannon Thomas showed she might be ready to step up.
Thomas was a commanding presence in the game’s opening minutes as ISU built a 10-0 lead by the 14:30 mark.
The Springboro, Ohio, native had four points during the Sycamores’ hot start, converting her own miss after a quick drive and receiving a shovel pass from Kelsey Luna. Thomas also drew two defenders in the lane and found Luna for an open 3-pointer.
Thomas finished with 11 points despite going just 1 for 4 at the free-throw line.
“We definitely have some versatility when it comes to the post, and that’s definitely what carried us through … ‘Shan-Thom’ making strong moves to the bucket all night long,” Luna said.
ISU’s senior captain led the way with 14 points on 3-for-6 shooting from long range, but the Sycamores were just 4 for 17 from beyond the arc after knocking down 11 of 22 3-point attempts last week.
“…I think we definitely relied on our posts which is a comfort to know — and I’m confident in all the post players on the team — that if the perimeter’s struggling that night we can count on them.”
Thomas credited work in practice on her performance.
“I”ve just been working on it, being stronger, going up to the basket stronger … getting a lot of rebounds. Most of the time, we want to get it in the post a lot because that opens it up for the guards,” Thomas said.
Coach Jim Wiedie was excited about the strong game by Thomas, who averaged six points as a freshman last year.
“Very aggressive. That’s the most aggressive that Shannon’s probably been since she’s been here,” Wiedie said. “She had some really good attacks from the top of the 3-point line, some good strong post-ups inside. She was a big key early on especially when we weren’t hitting shots.”
ISU shot 38.8 percent overall, but the Sycamores got quality shots, Wiedie said. Mattox, who had 12 points, was just 2 for 5 from the field, but she converted all eight of her free-throw attempts.
“We’ve got the shooters, it’s just establishing that presence inside, and I think we took a positive step today.”
Thomas and the post players were also important on the defensive end. The Sycamores held USI to 26.9-percent field goal shooting a week after holding Bellarmine to 33.3 percent.
“Give [Kelsie] Cooley and Thomas some credit,” USI coach Rick Stein said. “They’re long, they create some havoc down there. They’re players that are hard to score on. I thought they both did a good job defensively.”
USI has two former Missouri Valley Conference players: sharp-shooting guard Ellen Young (Southern Illinois) and reserve forward Anaris Sickles (Evansville). The Eagles averaged more than 70 points per game last season, led by Young’s average of 13.
ISU’s trapping full-court pressure also aided the Sycamores’ varied half-court defenses by taking time off the shot clock.
“We did have two or three turnovers against [the press],” Stein said, “and it did take time and maybe we rushed a little bit.”
ISU also scored 22 points off USI’s 20 turnovers.
“Coaches like [assistant] coach [Clint] Weddle and coach Wiedie have always been pushing the defense. Defense is the best offense,” said Luna, who had four steals, all coming in the first half.
Southern Indiana 48
Player mi fg 3pt ft r a pf tp
Williams 17 0-2 0-0 1-2 3 0 5 1
Mertens 19 3-10 0-0 3-4 7 0 3 9
Newhart 25 3-89 0-3 3-5 1 0 2 9
Meneghetti 27 1-6 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 3
Young 24 2-7 2-6 2-2 7 0 1 8
Soaper 21 2-9 1-5 4-4 3 0 2 9
Leeberg 14 0-4 0-4 1-2 2 1 1 1
Sickles 23 2-4 0-0 2-2 5 1 4 6
Gehlhausen 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 1 1 0
Johnson 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 1 0
McSparin 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 3 0
Perry 10 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 3 2
Totals 14-52 4-22 16-21 38* 6 28 48
Indiana State 65
Player mi fg 3pt ft r a pf tp
Cooley 20 1-4 0-0 4-4 6 1 3 6
Thomas 22 5-8 0-0 1-4 7 1 1 11
Schoen 28 1-6 1-6 2-2 2 1 3 5
Mattox 27 2-5 0-1 8-8 3 1 2 12
Luna 28 5-11 3-6 1-2 6 2 1 14
Smith 3 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0
Hodge 8 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 3 2
Pedro 7 0-3 0-2 2-2 1 0 4 2
Whitley 16 3-5 0-1 3-9 0 0 2 9
Paul 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Buher 17 1-5 0-1 0-0 3 2 2 2
Rivest 16 0-1 0-0 2-4 6 0 4 2
Totals 19-49 4-17 23-37 38* 9 25 65
Halftime score — ISU 33, USI 23. FG % — USI .269, ISU .388. 3P% — USI .182, ISU .235. FT% — USI .762, ISU .622. Steals — USI 4, ISU 10 (Luna 4), Schoen 2). Blocks — USI 3, ISU 1 (Mattox). Turnovers — USI 20, ISU 17. Team rebounds(*) — USI 5, ISU 3 . A — 2,837.
Next — Indiana State opens its regular season Saturday at Kansas State.
College
ISU women's basketball's post game takes shape in exhibition victory
Thomas has strong game as Sycamores take down Southern Indiana 65-48
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