By Dennis Clark
TERRE HAUTE — Indiana State and Kansas State women’s basketball teams easily won a pair of exhibition games in recent days, but now it’s time for both squads to play for real.
The two teams open the regular season at 6 p.m. EST today in a nonconference game at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan.
In exhibition contests, the Sycamores topped Bellarmine 84-52 and Southern Indiana 65-48, while the Wildcats defeated Fort Hays State 81-68 and Pittsburg State 89-61.
The two teams met last year for the first time, the Wildcats winning 58-43 at Hulman Center on Dec. 20, 2008.
ISU entered last year’s KSU game with a 3-6 record, while KSU was riding high with a 9-0 mark. ISU went on to finish 14-16 overall in a season decimated by injuries. Kansas State finished 25-8 and ranked No. 21 nationally last year, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
But that doesn’t faze a pair of ISU players that opposed K-State a year ago.
“The last couple years, we learned that we can contend against these bigger schools,” ISU senior guard Kelsey Luna said. “They’re just kids like us. Just go out and play hard and give them a run for their money.
“We’ll just go over there, plan to give them a good game and hope to come out victoriously.”
“I don’t think we think of [Kansas State] up high on a pedestal,” sophomore Deja Mattox added. “We’re a good team. We’ve gained confidence to play better teams.
Mattox (16.5 ppg), Luna (11.5) and sophomore Brittany Schoen (11.0) averaged in double figures for the Sycamores in the two exhibition games. Sophomore center Shannon Thomas was close with a 9.5 ppg average.
Part of ISU’s optimism is the fact KSU graduated four seniors from last year’s team. KSU was picked to finish eighth this year in the Big 12 preseason coach’s poll, but the Wildcats still received 33 votes in the Associated Press preseason top-25 poll.
The Wildcats have just 10 players on this year’s roster, but one of them is a All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, senior guard Ashley Sweat.
Sweat averaged 16.5 ppg and 5.1 rpg last year, while scoring 20 points in each of the two exhibition games. Two returnees to watch are 6-2 sophomore forward Jalana Childs and 5-10 senior guard Kari Kincaid, both averaging in double figures scoring in the exhibitions.
A key newcomer is freshman guard Taelor Karr, averaging nine ppg in the exhibitions.
Having only 10 players is not necessarily a bad thing for the Wildcats. This is the fourth time since 1979-80 to enter a season with 10 or fewer players. But in the three previous times, K-State reached postseason play, including two NCAA Tournament appearances.
K-State has won nine of their last 10 season openers (33-8 overall), but are even better in home openers, winning 16 of their last 17 games.
• • •
• ISU coach Jim Wiedie is just two wins shy of becoming the winningest women’s basketball coach in school history. Wiedie, beginning his 10th season, trails Edie Godleski (1971-1982) 156-155 in career victories.
“It would be an honor,” Wiedie said earlier this week. “I have a lot of respect for coach Godleski and the things that she did when she was here. I’m fortunate to be in the position I’m in. I thank Andi Myers [former ISU Athletic Director] for that opportunity years ago.
“It says a lot about the kids we’ve had in the program. It all started with Mel Boeglin and the kids we had here in 2002-03. It’s more of a testament to the talented kids we’ve had in the program. If you don’t have the players, you can’t win.”
• ISU’s Luna needs just 18 points to become the 22nd player in ISU history to reach the 1,000-point mark for a career. Laura Rudolphi was the last ISU player to do so in the 2007-08 season.
Craig Pearson contributed to this report.
ISU at KANSAS STATE
Tipoff — 6 p.m. today at Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kan.
Broadcasts — TV: none. Radio: WSDM-92.7 FM. Internet: gosycamores.com.
Series — KSU leads 1-0. Kansas State won 58-43 at Hulman Center on Dec. 20, 2008.
The players
Indiana State Sycamores (0-0) — F Kelsie Cooley (6-1, Jr., 8.5 ppg last year), C Shannon Thomas (6-4, So., 8.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), G Brittany Schoen (5-6, So., 5.5 ppg), G Deja Mattox (6-0, So., 6.0 ppg), G Kelsey Luna (5-5, Sr., 14.5 ppg) are the projected starters.
Coach — Jim Wiedie (155-108 at ISU, 10th year).
Kansas State Wildcats (0-0) — F Ashley Sweat (6-2, Sr., 16.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg), F Jalana Childs (6-2, So., 3.2 ppg), G Taelor Karr (5-8, Fr., no statistics), G Shalin Spani (6-0, Jr., 3.9 ppg), G Kari Kincaid (5-10, Sr., 8.0 ppg) are the projected starters.
Coach — Deb Patterson (265-146), 14th year).
Injuries — For ISU, Andrea Rademacher (redshirted), Meaghan MacDougall (leg) are out.
Keys to the game
n ISU will need to shoot the ball accurately vs. K-State. The Sycamores shot a woeful 29.2 percent from the field in last year’s game, while KSU hit nearly 50 percent (48.9) of their field goals.
n Health of the Sycamores’ players is a big factor this season. Luna, Mattox and reserve Laurence Rivest all have returned from ACL injuries which prematurely ended their seasons a year ago.
Tidbit — This is the first of six games the Sycamores will play against postseason-qualifying teams last year. K-State and Evansville advanced to the NCAA Tournament, while Creighton, Illinois State, Butler and Southern Methodist were in the WNIT.
Next games — ISU travels to Furman on Thursday. KSU hosts Arkansas State on Monday.
— Dennis Clark
