By Craig Pearson
TERRE HAUTE — The Indiana State women’s basketball team dismantled a young team from Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday in Hulman Center, improving to 4-0 with a 72-28 victory.
Sophomore Shannon Thomas dominated the paint on both ends of the court, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds in just 23 minutes. The 6-foot-4 center scored on her first three shot opportunities in an otherwise sluggish ISU offense for the first 10 minutes.
“I am way more confident than I was last year,” Thomas said. “This year, I want to dominate every part of the game that I can.”
Indiana State coach Jim Wiedie said the Sycamores need to look to Thomas more.
“She’s becoming an animal, becoming a force,” Wiedie said. “She’s taking her game to a whole new level. You’re going to see her get better and better and better — because she believes it now. She brings it every day in practice … she’s demanding the ball.
“We probably need to get her the ball more, she should have more shots than five.”
ISU led just 10-6 after a 3-pointer by Kelsey Luna with 13:18 left in the first half. But, counting that Luna 3, ISU finished the half on a 30-4 run that gave the Sycamores a 37-10 halftime lead.
Kelsey Cooley contributed in the first half while only taking one shot, a rebound basket on Thomas’ only miss. Cooley had two quality assists, a team-high six rebounds and a steal in the first half.
One of the passes set up freshman Moriah Hodge for a left-handed layup. Hodge, a 6-3 freshman, blocked a shot on the ensuing possession and drained a 12-foot jumper on the fast break as the Sycamores’ pushed the tempo.
Southeast Missouri State shot 12.5 percent in the first half, going 3 for 24 from the field and 0 for 13 from 3-point range.
ISU’s full-court pressure was a factor in taking time off SEMO’s shot clock, and the Sycamores just matched up well in its zone and man-to-man defense.
“We were pretty much on the ball all the time. There were a couple wide open looks, but for the most part the outside shots they had were contested shots and late in the clock,” Wiedie said.
ISU was able to get minutes for several young players. Hodge had four points, three rebounds and three assists. Point guard Taylor Whitley tossed in nine points, two assists and a steal, the swipe leading to a layup after she sprinted past everyone on the court.
Kelsey Luna, averaging 29 points in ISU’s first three wins, had 15 points in 22 minutes. Brittany Schoen reached double figures for the first time with 10.
“We’ve got to get consistent balance throughout the game,” Wiedie said. “We’ve got to be more balanced. Tonight, we were fortunate to get a lot of players in the mix. … It was nice to see Taylor and Moriah on the floor tonight.”
Freshman walk-on Krista Smith of Terre Haute South added a late 3-pointer and a team-high two steals.
SEMO 28
Player mi fg 3pt ft r a pf tp
Mack 22 0-7 0-4 0-0 6 0 2 0
Sharpe 21 0-8 0-6 3-4 2 0 1 3
Adams 19 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2
Beck 30 2-7 1-3 0-0 1 2 2 5
Davis 13 1-6 0-4 0-0 1 1 1 2
Harriel 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0
Lane 15 3-5 1-3 0-1 3 1 1 7
M.Miller 8 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 1 0 0
S.Miller 12 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 3 2
Fields 8 1-4 0-2 0-0 3 0 1 2
Holmes 3 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 1 1
Norman 25 0-6 0-3 0-0 2 0 2 0
Roberts 16 2-5 0-1 0-0 4 1 3 4
Totals 11-57 2-27 4-7 28 7 22 28
Indiana State 72
Player mi fg 3pt ft r a pf tp
Mattox 21 0-4 0-2 4-6 7 1 1 4
Cooley 20 3-3 0-0 0-0 7 4 2 6
Thomas 23 4-5 0-0 5-8 8 0 0 13
Schoen 23 3-10 2-9 2-2 3 1 0 10
Luna 22 4-8 3-7 4-4 6 3 0 15
Smith 7 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 3
Hodge 23 2-3 0-1 0-0 3 3 2 4
Pedro 9 0-0 0-0 2-2 2 0 2 2
Whitley 16 4-5 0-0 1-2 1 2 1 9
Paul 10 1-1 1-1 1-21 1 2 1 4
Buher 7 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Burton 7 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 2
Rivest 12 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 1 0 0
Totals 23-65 6-18 21-25 37* 11 21 73
Halftime score — ISU 37, SEMO 10. FG % — SEMO 19.3 ISU 51.1. 3P% — SEMO 7.4, ISU 31.8. FT% — SEMO 57.1, ISU 73.1. Steals — SEMO 5 (Adams 2), ISU 8 (Smith 2). Blocks — SEMO 0, ISU 1 (Hodge). Turnovers — SEMO 15, ISU 16.. Team rebounds(*) — SEMO 3, ISU 5. A — 2,980.
Next — Indiana State (4-0) plays host to Central Michigan on Sunday. Southeast Missouri State falls to 2-2.
