St. Louis — Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
Forward Kara Schilli expected to be picked in the middle-of-the-pack with the loss of two key starters, Angela Phillips and Laura Rudolphi, who accounted for nearly 50 percent of ISU’s made field goals last season.
“The best thing about it is it’s predictions, it’s not reality,” Schilli said. “The goal every year is to be the top of the line, but we figure middle of the pack made sense.”
Leah Phillips, who played a key role off the bench as a freshman when ISU was picked as the preseason favorite in 2005-06, thinks the Sycamores’ potential was overlooked. She looks forward to helping the Sycamores be the hunter and not the hunted when the MVC slate rolls around.
“When you’re picked up high, you have that target on your back,” Phillips said. “We’ll be those people looking up front and going after those teams, and I think we’re really going to surprise people this year.”
There’s no doubt this senior duo differs in style and substance from last year’s standout senior duo. Schilli’s constant hustle and athleticism have granted her constant accolades from fans, and Phillips’ prolific 3-point shooting — her 145 made 3-pointers are fifth in program history and percentage of 39.8 is third all-time — have endeared her as well.
Work ethic could be as important as ever for a team with seven freshmen on the roster that will be counted on this season.
“Kara’s a hard worker. She’s the hardest worker on this team,” Phillips said. “The freshmen see that and think ‘we have to go hard. That’s what’s expected of us at Indiana State.’”
Both players were on campus all summer, fine tuning their games. Wiedie expects Phillips to bounce back from a sub-par junior season, and he expects bigger things out of Schilli.
“Kara’s a player we’ve talked to on numerous occasions about needing to be more selfish,” Wiedie said. “Kara’s strength is her ability to get to the basket. That’s one area more than anything I’d like to see her improve upon and that is to attack the basket. If she can get in that attack mindset, it will be good for her and it’s definitely going to be good for us.”
Wiedie alluded to Phillips showing more quickness than last season, and the 5-foot-7 guard offered to play point guard early this summer if she’s needed in that role. Wiedie suggested that Kelsey Luna would probably begin the season as the primary ballhandler, with Phillips, junior Sarah Paul and freshman Bianca Jarrett picking up minutes.
The lightning-quick Jarrett certainly has the potential to help, but “she has other things she needs to work on,” Wiedie said.
Creighton and Illinois State have the best mix of talent and experience in the league, but most of the other eight teams appear fairly equal at this point. Of course, this is why they play the games, and the Sycamores will begin to examine themselves in game action Saturday against the University of Indianapolis in an exhibition game.
As far as Phillips and Schilli are concerned, let the games begin.
“Even when we were ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, you didn’t think too much about that,” Phillips said. “It was more of what you set your goals as. We know we want to be the best. We know we want to win conference. We know we want to win the conference tournament. We know we have those same goals.
“I think a lot of it is about heart and determination and effort. I think we can compete with anyone. It comes down to effort and who wants it the most, and I think our team really wants it this year.”
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone after 4 p.m. at (812) 231-4357.
Given to Fly
October 28, 2008
Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
- Given to Fly: Sycamores embracing underdog role at MVC Tournament The frustration of not living up to expectations can cause problems within any sports team, from the coach down to the players at the end of the bench.
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