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TERRE HAUTE, Ind.—Indiana State junior guard Kelsey Luna scored a game-high 23 points on Saturday, including seven of the Sycamores’ final nine points, to help ISU post a 66-59 victory over the visiting University of Evansville women’s basketball team at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Luna was clutch down the stretch for the Sycamores, scoring seven of the game’s final 11 points, including a three-pointer with 3:20 to play which snapped a 57-57 tie and gave ISU a three-point lead. Sophomore forward Kelsie Cooley would add a lay-up on ISU’s next possession to expand the lead to 62-57 with 2:32 to play.
Evansville would eventually trim the ISU lead back to three points, 62-59, on a lay-up by junior forward Anaris Sickles with 1:17 left in regulation. After UE survived a missed three-pointer by Luna on the Sycamores’ next possession, Evansville tried to tie the game with a three-pointer by senior forward Robyn Jennings. Her top-of-the-key three with 20 seconds remaining came up short though, and Luna would go a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line the rest of the way to ice the victory and keep the Sycamores in a tie for the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Purple Aces opened the game on fire, hitting 10 of their first 17 shots (58.8 percent), including six three-pointers, on their way to a 28-19 lead midway through the first half. UE would go cold over the next 10 minutes though, and Indiana State would close the half on an 18-4 run to take a 37-32 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Sycamores would build as much as a 12-point lead in the second-half, before UE came roaring back with a 12-0 run with under 15 minutes to play to tie the game at 50-50 on a three-pointer by rookie guard Kelsey Sperka with 9:41 to go. From there, neither team would hold more than a three-point lead until Cooley’s lay-up with 2:32 remaining.
“Basketball is a 40-minute game,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “We played well for only 30 minutes today, and those other 10 minutes killed us.
“We also did not do a good enough job of containing Kelsey Luna defensively. We know that Luna is one of the top shooters in not only the conference, but also the country, and we gave her way too many open looks today."
Luna finished the game going 7-for-15 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range on her way to a game-high 23 points. Cooley also added 12 points and five rebounds off of the ISU bench, while rookie point guard Bianca Jarrett joined them in double-digits with 10 points. Senior forward Robyn Jennings paced Evansville with 11 points, while fellow seniors Shannon Novosel and Ashley Austin added nine points each before fouling out. UE’s 23 personal fouls led to a 19-6 advantage in points from the foul line on the afternoon.
With the victory, Indiana State improves to 10-8 overall and 6-1 in the MVC, while posting its seventh victory in the last eight games. Evansville, meanwhile, slips to 8-10 overall and 1-6 in the Valley with the loss. The Purple Aces will now return home to Evansville on Thursday night, as UE will open up a four-game homestand against the Missouri State Lady Bears. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and Thursday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
