TERRE HAUTE —
Indiana State’s magnificent 3-point shooting duo of Brittany Schoen and Anna Munn connected at crucial times Sunday in Hulman Center.
The seven 3-pointers of Munn and Schoen combined with the recoil of Shannon Thomas and the continued force provided by freshman Racheal Mahan produced a 71-60 victory over Northern Iowa. The win brought ISU (12-12) back to 6-6 in Missouri Valley action.
Schoen, who hit 4-of-7 from long range to move within three of Kelsey Luna’s ISU record for 3-pointers in a career, drilled one with seven seconds on the first-half clock to knot the score at 30-30.
ISU made adjustments after a first half that lacked aggressiveness and cohesion on the offensive end.
Schoen and Deja Mattox worked together on a fast break to get Schoen an open 3 that found the bottom of the net. That sparked a 13-2 run for the Sycamores that gave them control against the Panthers (15-9, 8-5), the two-time defending Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champions.
The run continued when Munn broke a 34-34 tie with a 16-footer and Mahan had a chance at a three-point play. Taylor Whitley found Munn for back-to-back 3-pointers to cap off ISU’s spurt. Munn finished with 17 points, hitting three 3-pointers in a game for the first time since Jan. 14.
“Those [3-pointers] were big,” coach Teri Moren said. “Again, give Anna Munn credit. She’s been a kid that lost her shot on the outside, certainly found it tonight. Those two 3s in that period of time were huge.”
After a sluggish first half Friday, Moren made the adjustments needed to beat Bradley. She accomplished the same thing Sunday.
The Sycamores shot 48 percent in the second half, but more importantly, they didn’t have any turnovers during the first eight minutes of the second half.
Shannon Thomas made quick decisions to set up teammates for shots throughout the game to post a career-high total of five assists.
“We came together at halftime, and we were talking about it in the locker room. That’s the one thing we could do better was focus on the offensive end, get into our set plays and make the extra pass to the open person,” Thomas said.
Munn credited ISU’s ability to get teammates the ball in space.
“[The coaches] really emphasized that in the second half. When two people would double on Shannon, it was the kickout all day,” Munn said. “It was just a matter of knocking down shots, and thankfully my shots were falling tonight. My teammates and coaches had respect for my shot and told me to keep shooting.”
The Sycamores had plenty of defense left to play after building their lead.
Thomas was big in that regard, getting nine rebounds in each half to finish off quality defensive possessions. Thomas’ 18 rebounds were a season-high and the performance came two nights after getting 11 against Bradley. Thomas didn’t get double-digit rebounds in any games during ISU’s six-game losing streak.
“The reason I’m so happy that Shannon had a good weekend, that six-game losing streak we had, we needed her and she really struggled,” Moren said. “She struggled scoring, struggled from a defensive standpiont. Because of that, her confidence was shaken. So it was nice to get her back on track.”
UNI shot 25.5 percent from the field, chucking up 30 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc and making six.
“You’re not going to win a lot of ball games, especially on the road, shooting 25 percent,” UNI coach Tanya Warren said. “[The Sycamores] shot the ball well. We got the same shots. We didn’t knock them down.”
Warren cited her team’s lack of energy coming out of halftime as the reason for the loss, although losing 5-11 junior forward Mercedees Morgan to an apparent knee injury in the first half didn’t help.
“We’re already limited in terms of our depth. That really limits us in terms of our 4 spot,” Warren said of a player who has started 20 games for the Panthers this season. Her status going forward is unknown.
Morgan’s absence helped Mahan make her presence felt. After the ISU freshman went scoreless in the first half, she scored nine points in the second half. Schoen set her up with a nice pass off a pick-and-roll, and Mahan drew contact and finished for a three-point play.
“What she gave us was such a lift,” Moren said. “As much as Anna Munn’s 3s going down and Brittany’s 3s going down gives you a lift, there’s nothing like an old-fashioned three-point play. Obviously happy about that.”
Thomas found Mahan being defended on the block by guard K.K. Armstrong for a key bucket as well.
Whitley fouled out with 5:03 to go, and backup point guard Natasha Zurek fouled out shortly after that. Travecia Franklin helped Schoen handle the Panthers’ pressure in the backcourt in the final two minutes.
ISU’s Deja Mattox also suffered an ankle injury late in the game and did not return.
“Deja has a history of that ankle injury,” Moren said. “It happened to us last year with her. We’ll hope she’ll recover quickly.”
ISU returns to action Friday at Drake (12-12, 6-7 MVC) before visiting Creighton (13-11, 7-6) on Sunday. The Sycamores are now in sixth place in the standings.
“We are where we want to be. We don’t want to be in the lower part of the pack. We want to be up near the front in the mix of things,” Schoen said. “There’s stuff we need to work on and it’s going to be like that up through the conference tournament.”
NORTHERN IOWA (60) — Kirschbaum 1-3 1-2 3, Oney 4-14 5-7 16, Madrigal 4-8 2-2 12, Armstrong 3-16 9-10 15, Brown 0-5 8-10 8, Lamar 0-0 0-0 0, McDowell 2-6 1-3 6, Donaldson 0-2 0-0 0, Morgan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-55 FG, 26-34 FT, 60 TP.
INDIANA STATE (71) — Mattox 1-4 2-2 4, Thomas 4-7 5-6 13, Schoen 4-7 0-0 12, Whitley 2-5 3-4 7, Munn 6-17 2-2 17, Zurek 1-1 4-4 6, Rademacher 0-0 0-0 0, Mahan 4-6 1-2 9, Franklin 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 23-49 FG, 18-22 FT, 71 TP.
Halftime score — ISU 30, UNI 30. 3-point shooting — UNI 6-30 (Oney 3-11, Madrigal 2-45, Armstrong 0-5, Brown 0-4, McDowell 1-3, Donaldson 0-2), ISU 7-19 (Mattox 0-1, Schoen 4-7, Munn 3-11). Rebounds — UNI 33 (Armstrong 8), ISU 42 (Thomas 18, Mahan 4, Mattox 3, Whitley 4, Munn 2, Zurek 3, Franklin 2). Steals — UNI 13 (Armstrong 4, Oney 3), ISU 6 ((Whitley 2, Zurek 2, Schoen, Thomas). Assists — UNI 10 (Armstrong 5, Brown 2, Madrigal 2), ISU 16 (Thomas 5, Whitley 4, Zurek 3). Blocks — UNI 0, ISU 2 (Mattox, Mahan). Turnovers — UNI 11, ISU 20.
Next — Northern Iowa (15-9, 8-5 MVC) plays Friday at Bradley. Indiana State (12-12, 6-6 MVC) visits Drake on Friday.
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