NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Indiana State’s experience at the Vanderbilt Holiday Tournament ended up being a positive one despite playing to the level of its opponent in the opener against Longwood.
The Sycamores fought Vanderbilt tooth-and-nail until the final buzzer. Coach Jim Wiedie’s squad’s 89-75 loss also concluded the toughest non-conference schedule under his tenure in a satisfactory manner. A five-point loss against an Iowa team that is not as strong as originally thought could have turned in ISU’s favor had it not been the team’s first game. That Hawkeyes’ team is reeling after a 24-point loss to the Missouri Valley Conference’s Northern Iowa.
ISU struggled at Michigan State and against Wisconsin-Green Bay, who is now No. 14 in the collegerpi.com rankings with the fourth-toughest schedule in the country. The Phoenix deserve some national recognition in the polls.
Vanderbilt’s post players were more athletic, skilled and experienced than those of Iowa or Michigan State.
The Commodores’ point guard is no Ivory Latta — the favorite for Player of the Year for Duke — but Dee Davis is the best point in the Southeastern Conference. The Commodores’ senior had six points, 10 assists and seven rebounds against ISU on Thursday.
Davis said she was impressed by ISU’s offensive prowess.
“They could definitely shoot,” Davis said. “They had a lot of talent on the floor. Everybody was an offensive threat and they hurt us in spurts. We take a lot of pride in our defense. I thought we picked it up in the second half.”
Angela Phillips has fallen into a 4 for 29 shooting slump beyond the 3-point line during the past four games, but she is a smart player that will bust out of the slump and continue providing leadership.
The ISU backcourt will continue to thrive behind both Phillips, Annie Bankhead and Kelsey Luna, but Thursday reiterated the fact that this team’s co-captains are the key to championship-level success. Rachel Maenpaa and Laura Rudolphi have to provide steady play at both ends.
“Those two need to be the pillars for us inside — offensively, defensively and on the boards,” Wiedie said. “The rookies, the new ones, they’re gonna improve, they’re going to get better.”
Maenpaa never lacks confidence or aggressiveness at the offensive end and her rebounding has been improved at times. With three double-doubles after 11 games, Rudolphi has proven she is capable of better rebounding.
Those two have to be better guarding the basket and corralling missed shots, Wiedie said.
“There are times we aren’t even in position,” Wiedie said. “Rudy can defend much better than what she’s doing and she can do better rebounding than what she’s doing. She’s too talented a player to give up stuff on the defensive end.”
Wiedie’s reason for going back to a 2-3 matchup zone is to give Rudolphi and Maenpaa less responsibility. Players wide open at point-blank range is inexcusable. It doesn’t matter how big or strong they are and believe me ISU won’t be seeing anything like Liz or Carla Thomas during the Missouri Valley Conference season, which begins next Friday in Hulman Center against Drake.
“They’re vital,” Wiedie said of Maenpaa and Rudolphi. “They’ve got to not only score for us inside to take the pressure off the guards, but they’ve got to be able to contain people. And right now, it’s not where it needs to be.”
Maenpaa’s scoring night made for one of her best games. Her shooting touch at mid-range is a lost art on many.
“I don’t know if it’s the best game I’ve seen her play but under the circumstances against the competition, yeah,” Wiedie said.
Maenpaa and Rudolphi are still learning to be leaders on a team that graduated its most successful senior class after the program’s best season.
Wiedie expected his team to be 7-4 or 8-3 “if things went well” at this point in the season.
Several teams are playing well in the MVC, though. Northern Iowa, Drake and Illinois State are the top contenders in Wiedie’s mind.
“Illinois State may be better than anybody in the league,” Wiedie said. “Drake’s still playing well [despite key injuries] and that’s a credit to [coach] Amy [Stephens] … I don’t know if we’re necessarily playing that great.”
Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said she’s known Wiedie for a long time and she predicts good things.
“I’ve known Jim for a long time. I think he’s an excellent coach,” Balcomb said. “They’re very young, and I think they’re going to be very good. We knew not to take them lightly. He’s got a good system there.”
Wiedie did leave Nashville having seen his team do some positive things against the No. 12 team in the country.
“Our energy level was much higher [than Wednesday],” he said. “If we play that way, then there’s no reason why we can’t compete for a championship.”
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com.
Given to Fly
December 22, 2006
Given to Fly: ISU women end non-conference play on strong note
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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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.
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