TERRE HAUTE —
A crowd of 2,668 fans might have left Hulman Center wondering what just happened Friday night. The Indiana State women’s basketball team had the best defensive half of the Teri Moren era.
Yes, it’s only her third year as head coach, but the Sycamores held a veteran team to nine points in the opening half. The visiting Panthers, who won 22 games last winter and return 11 players from that squad, managed only four field goals in the first 20 minutes.
The Sycamores' 69-39 victory was the largest margin of victory for ISU since Moren arrived in Terre Haute, the closest being an 80-51 win over Illinois State in the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament in 2011. Prior to Moren, ISU beat Southeast Missouri State by a score of 72-28 in 2009 for one of the biggest margins in school history. SEMO scored just 10 in the first half of that game.
This game was also about defensive dominance, but it was against a team that ranked 27th in the NCAA last year with an average of 71.1 points.
Taylor Whitley had four of ISU’s eight first-half steals. ISU was relentless to the intermission buzzer, Jessica Valley capping the half with a drive down the lane and layup just before the horn to make it 36-9.
“Great first win for us. … in particular our defense stood out in the first half. That’s a great first half of basketball,” Moren said. “Transition defense was our No. 1 key as we started. Just sound for that first 20 minutes. Can’t tell you how proud I am of not just our defensive effort, but we outrebounded. Just a great night for the Sycamores.”
Whitley, the Sycamores’ only senior who had to miss a big chunk of the beginning her junior year, definitely enjoyed getting her final ISU season off to a special beginning. Whitley posted 14 points, five assists, six rebounds and four steals.
What she liked was the relentless defense of her teammates that helped the Sycamores take EIU point guard Ta’Kenya Nixon out of the game early. Nixon put up 20 on ISU in a 75-60 defeat of the Sycamores last season.
“It was a great, great team win,” Whitley said. “It was an awesome feeling. We weren’t just playing basketball, we were having fun out there.”
Eastern Illinois coach Lee Buchanan was definitely impressed.
“They whooped us. They play hard. Teri has them playing hard. They got under Ta’Kenya and made her pass a lot in the first half,” Buchanan said. “Whitley makes them go. She’s their motor.”
Speaking of a motor, Valley had a non-stop motor for the Sycamores on the glass. She was outstanding in her first start in ISU’s power forward role. The 5-foot-9 sophomore used her quickness and athleticism to pull down 12 rebounds, sparking the Sycamores to a 47-31 edge on the glass. Racheal Mahan added her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“My role for this team is just to be that player that get rebounds and try and get the hustle plays,” Valley said. “It just came easy.”
Moren wasn’t surprised by Valley’s success in that role as a do-it-all player for the Sycamores. Valley had four assists, two steals and a block to go with her 12 rebounds.
“As long as you can embrace whatever that role is, which she’s done, she’s going to find success, that’s just the kind of kid she is,” Moren said. “I’d like her to be more consistent. We need her to score for us. She can extend the defense a little bit because she does have range. Jumping, getting off the floor, she’s going to be able to score on the inside and the outside.”
Travecia Franklin chipped in 12 points in 24 minutes off the bench, knocking down two jump shots with the shot clock winding down.
Anna Munn paced the Sycamores with 18 points to go with four assists, two blocks and a steal.
“We went out there and showed what our defense is made of,” Munn said. “Our focus after halftime was not letting up and giving them any momentum. We overcame that lull or whatever so we did a pretty good job of that.”
Indiana State University
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Inside moves: Indiana State guard Taylor Whitley drives to the hoop through the defense of Eastern Illinois defenders Ta'Kenya Nixon(15) and Mariah King.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Coming in: Eastern Illinois forward Mariah King guards Indiana State's Racheal Mahan in the paint in the season opener for both teams.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis High pressure system: Indiana State guard Jessica Valley pressures Eastern Illinois forward Sabina Oroszova in first half action Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Mine: Indiana State's Racheal Mahan holds on to a rebound despite the efforts of eastern Illinois defenders Mariah King(51) and Sabina Oroszova.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Open look: Anna Munn gets an easy two after an Indiana State steal.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Crowded: Indiana State guard Taylor Whitley draws a crowd as she drives the lane Friday night against Eastern Illinois.
Discussion
ISU women open season with impressive defensive effort against Eastern Illinois
- Indiana State University
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Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
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Sycamores ready for more NCAA track success
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But they’ll go ahead and try to add to their list of accomplishments in the NCAA outdoor championships this weekend.
Dustin Betz has been a scorer and key piece of eight Missouri Valley Conference championship teams between track and cross country. He’ll compete today in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Sycamores’ second best in the event behind Jordan Fife. -
Mike Lucas joins ISU football staff
What traits do head football coaches seek out when they hire position coaches?
Indiana State football coach Mike Sanford provided insight into that question as he hired former Southeast Louisiana head coach Mike Lucas to his staff Tuesday. Lucas will be the Sycamores’ defensive line coach.
“You have to look at your staff and see what you need. I felt like in this particular case, I wanted an experienced defensive line coach. I feel like we have a mixture of experience and youth and I want to keep that going,” Sanford said. -
Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
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Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
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ISU's athletic treasure trove
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Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
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ISU couldn’t do it. -
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Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
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First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
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If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
Indiana State’s baseball victory over Alcorn State on Friday would take on more meaning Saturday if the Sycamores could build momentum and pick up on the good work they did in Friday’s ninth-inning rally.
Mission accomplished.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
ISU earns badly-needed win
Alcorn State’s baseball team might be ranked in the bottom 10 in RPI and Indiana State might have never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team. So it wouldn’t appear that a quality win was in the offing when Alcorn State visited Bob Warn Field on Friday.
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
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To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
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The Sycamores have filled in most of the blanks in their nonconference schedule, but as ever, ISU coach Greg Lansing would like to visit the friendly confines of Hulman Center a bit more often. -
ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
Baseball is a rhythm game. With contests every day or five times a week in the case of many college programs, you have the chance to build on success or wallow in a slump.
Mother Nature took that rhythm away from Indiana State’s team last week. After a 7-1 loss to Indiana on April 24, ISU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee-Martin, but it was wiped out by rain.
So the rhythm was disturbed, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.
ISU was in a five-game losing streak before its unintended vacation and the Sycamores made a move in the right direction Wednesday with a 7-0 win over DePauw at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a disappointing weekend. We went all the way down to Tennessee and didn’t get to play. We sat around in the hotel room. We came here and it was still raining. It was nice to get out and see some live pitching,” ISU center fielder Landon Curry said. - More Indiana State University Headlines
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