Published: December 02, 2008 12:05 am         

ISU women back home in feel-good mode

After two road wins, Jim Wiedie’s Sycamores host Arkansas State tonight

TERRE HAUTE — All is right in the world when a team gets a couple of road wins.

The Indiana State women’s basketball team is living that high life going into its home game with Arkansas State tonight. The Sycamores have wins at Detroit and at Southeast Missouri State in their rear-view mirror. That’s ideal for any team, no matter whether the roster is comprised of seven freshmen, as ISU’s is, or not.

“I kind of like where we’re at right now. I like the way our kids are competing and how hard they’re playing,” ISU coach Jim Wiedie said. “The biggest difference between this team and last year is that this team has never given up.

“We’ve been behind in every game at some point and time and there’s never been a dropoff. We’ve made mistakes, but there’s never been a lack of effort.”

Junior guard Kelsey Luna has seen the difference in her young teammates. A little dose of confidence goes beyond the game, it shows in practice and preparation too.

“We’ve done a 180 from experiences of what we’ve had in the past. It’s encouraging to see the way the young players are handling it,” Luna said.

“Collegiate athletics can get overwhelming, so it’s exciting to see these players attack everything head on and deal with what’s thrown at them We’re excited about our two road wins.”

How have ISU’s youngsters stacked up? The most obvious contributor has been guard Deja Mattox, who is averaging nine points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Freshman center Shannon Thomas is averaging 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, playing 20.8 minutes per game. Guard Brittany Schoen has made 37.5 percent of her 3-point attempts and is averaging five points per game. Guard Bianca Jarrett has struggled from the field, but has helped on the boards, averaging three rebounds per game in 10.3 minutes per game.

While the Sycamores are young, the Red Wolves have experience … and more games under their belt. Arkansas State has been all over the map, winning two to start the season, including a 73-56 home victory over Creighton. The Red Wolves then lost three, including a three-point loss at Southern Illinois, before they recovered to win two games at the UTSA Star Shuttle Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio.

Like ISU, Arkansas State also has a three-guard offense, though the Red Wolves have a slight size advantage on the perimeter. Arkansas State’s leading scorer and rebounder is its youngest starter as sophomore forward Shay Scott has tallied 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

“SEMO is similar to Arkansas State. SEMO had a lot of athleticism, not a big team, but had a lot of speed and was a veteran team. Arkansas State has more size inside, a couple of their post kids are 6-foot-2, but they have good speed on the perimeter and they like to attack off the dribble,” Wiedie said. “We played pretty well down there last year, so I imagine that’s on their mind.”

Wiedie said everyone is 100 percent, healthy and ready to go today.



Today’s probable lineups

Arkansas State Red Wolves (4-3)

Pos Player Ht Yr Rpg Ppg

G Jazmine Taylor 5-8 Jr. 2.3 5.0

G Ebonie Jefferson 5-9 Jr. 3.1 10.4

G Brittney Hiles 5-7 Sr. 2.1 4.7

F Shay Scott 6-2 So. 6.1 10.6

F Lyndsay Schlup 6-2 Jr. 5.7 7.4

Coach — Brian Boyer (156-124 in his 10th season at Arkansas State)



Indiana State Sycamores (2-2)

Pos Player Ht Yr Rpg Ppg

G Leah Phillips 5-7 Sr. 1.8 16.0

G Deja Mattox 6-0 Fr. 4.3 9.0

G Kelsey Luna 5-5 Jr. 4.3 18.3

F Kelsie Cooley 6-1 So. 5.3 9.0

F Kara Schilli 5-10 Sr. 6.8 3.5

Coach — Jim Wiedie (143-94 in his 9th season at ISU)

* assists per game

Game at a glance

Tipoff — 7:05 p.m. today at Hulman Center.

Broadcasts — Radio: WSDM-FM (92.7). Internet: gosycamores.com

Last games — ISU won at Southeast Missouri State 75-72 on Friday; Arkansas State won at Texas-San Antonio 73-59.

Series — ISU leads 2-0. ISU won 63-49 at Arkansas State in 2007.

Next games — ISU plays New Orleans in the Big Easy Classic on Friday; Arkansas State plays host to Oklahoma on Saturday.

— Todd Golden