TERRE HAUTE — In January, it appeared Kara Schilli was the lone survivor of the original 2005-06 freshman class for the Indiana State women’s basketball team.
• Leah Phillips’ season appeared to be lost after she tore an ACL in her knee.
• Tiffany Reida had to call it a career after just one college season due to back surgery.
Things have changed a bit.
Phillips returned for her Senior Day, providing a needed emotional lift, and she hopes to be a part of a tournament run.
Following that Senior Day win, coach Jim Wiedie suggested to Reida that she suit up in Sycamore blue and white again. The ISU senior thought he was joking.
But technically, she was still on ISU’s roster.
When her basketball career was thought to be over, Reida’s original plan was to transfer to Purdue to study pharmacy. Instead, she continued her studies at ISU as with a pre-med curriculum.
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.
“Kara, Tiff and I are roommates on this trip,” Leah Phillips said Thursday from St. Charles, Mo. “We’re having a blast. The three of us came in [as freshmen and] we were extremely hard workers. You know the three of us are going to work hard. So we’re really looking forward to playing together again.”
Phillips came back to play an emotional Senior Day game in which ISU defeated Bradley 62-58. She added to her program’s fifth-best all-time total in 3-pointers in that game, but her presence alone seemed to spark her teammates.
Maybe that could happen again.
“I think that we’re still a team to be scared of,” Phillips said. “People are calling us the walking wounded here, but we’re ready to do some damage here at the tourney.”
Phillips is risking further damage to her knee.
“Obviously our [team] doctors weren’t thrilled about me playing on Senior Night,” she said. “After I saw that was success, I knew that I wanted to play again.”
Phillips sought an opinion from another doctor and decided to go ahead and plan to play in the tournament despite some risks.
“I could have a cartilage tear,” she said. “It’s a a risk I’m willing to take. It’s unilikely because of the brace. I’ve had a great four years here. I just don’t want it to end the way it ended.”
Another risk is the bones of the knee could strike a nerve: “It’s a long shot. It’s like getting struck by lightning,” Phillips said.
While Phillips sat on the bench in street clothes, Reida suited up in her old No. 4 jersey on last weekend’s road trip to Creighton and Drake. She was a combined 0 for 6 from the field, but “defensively she hasn’t missed a beat,” Phillips said.
Excuse her for not knocking down a shot; Reida hasn’t played any basketball since a WNIT loss to IU in Hulman Center in 2006. And she got two practices and a shootaround in before jumping on the bus for one of the toughest and longest road trips in the Valley.
“Defense has always been my main focus,” Reida said. “I was a little rusty, a little slow. I basically went as hard as I could.”
Reida, who has attended as many games as possible the last two years, said she just hopes to provide some rest for her teammates in the backcourt, where ISU is especially shorthanded. ISU lost All-MVC guard Kelsey Luna and Deja Mattox to ACL injuries, and point guard Bianca Jarrett was dismissed from the team. (Mattox and Jarrett would have been almost sure-fire picks to the MVC all-freshman team.)
ISU still has plenty of freshmen who have picked up lots of valuable experience this season.
And suddenly the Sycamores have three seniors.
“The back is sore, it causes me problems, but it’s worth it for these last two weeks,” Reida said. “I’ve always wanted one more chance to get out and play.”
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone at (812) 231-4357. Read his web log at blogs.tribstar.com/craigpearson.
Given to Fly
March 13, 2009
‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark
- 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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