Lady Sycamores down the Aces 69-66. This was a must-win for ISU against an Aces team that was 4-21 I believe based on the post-game radio show.
There is a lot to unpack. After three straight losses, the win moves ISU to 5-10 in Valley play.
Ella Sawyer scored the last seven points for ISU going 5/5 at the FT line. For the game, ISU was 17/20 at the line which proved to be decisive.
Coach Johnson applied the full-court press with ISU trailing with about two minutes to play. It resulted in three consecutive turnovers and a complete reversal of the game's momentum and status.
Kiley Bess & Chelsea Cain both registered double-doubles. This is the first time ISU women have had two double-double players in the same game in two years.
Freshman Keslyn Secrist scored 5 points in a remarkable 26-point second quarter for ISU. Sawyer also had 5 while Cain put up 10 by herself. Sophomore Center LIly Niebuhr scored four points in the period on very aggressive post moves. She is seeing increased minutes later in the season. She had ISU's only blocked shot late in the game in what proved to be a critical play.
ISU trailed 59-58 at the five-minute mark of the 4th quarter. Mya Glanton scored points 54, 56, and 58 to keep ISU in the game early in the fourth.
Kiley Bess had a similar run in the third quarter scoring ISU's 46, 48, and 50th points.
On the more gloomy side:
Evansville outscored ISU in three of the four quarters. Only the 26-13 margin of the second period showed an ISU advantage.
Aces Freshman post player Maggie Hartwig from Wisconsin was very good with 22 points including a pair of threes. She was complemented by 5'11 freshman Nevaeh Thomas, also from Wisconsin, who scored 20 herself. These two look to be a handful going forward.
Aces Junior Guard Lexie Sinclair made three threes in the game including one for points 64-66. She rimmed out a game-tying three at the buzzer.
The Sycamores are on the road at Bradley on Sunday and back home again for two final home games to be played during the Arch Madness event in St. Louis.