Lady Sycamores Open Up MVC Play With A Victory

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Another night, another record for ISU senior guard Melanie Boeglin. She became the Missouri Valley Conference leader in career steals with 373 as she had six takeaways during a 79-69 victory over Evansville. Indiana State improves to 9-2, 1-0 MVC while Evansville fell to 4-6, 0-1 MVC. Boeglin broke former Creighton guard Laura Spanheimers record of 369 with three steals in the games first half. She now leads the league in career steals and is second in assists. She leads the ISU record books in both categories. Adding to her prowess on defense, Boeglin led the Sycamores with 20 points, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, and nine free throws. On fire from long-range was senior guard Kristen Weddle, who finished with 17 points, hitting a trio of triples. Off the bench, sophomore Laura Rudolphi was stellar, hitting 5-of-7 from the field, and making seven free throws. She nearly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. 59 fouls were whistled in the contest, with the two squads combining for 75 foul shots. ISU hit 28-of-39 free throws in the contest, including each of their first 16. Evansville was 23-of-36 from the charity stripe. The Sycamores led the contest by a slim 43-37 advantage at the half. Things would not get any easier as Evansville scored the first six points after the break, to knot the game quickly at 43 with less than a minute expired from the clock. ISU raced off with the games next six points, with a free throw by junior Stephanie Lisch, a lay-up by Rudolphi and Boeglins 3-pointer. After a Purple Aces free throw, ISU put some distance between themselves and the opposition with the games next seven points. Leading 53-44, Boeglin hit the first of her two foul shots, and then missed the second. The rebound was grabbed by junior Rachel Maenpaa and she put the ball back in which stretched the advantage to 56-44 with 11:58 showing on the clock. Evansville made its push in the games final stretch, narrowing the lead down to 62-58 with 7:25 left in the game on back-to-back lay-ups by Olivia Grant and Megan Liffick. An 11-2 run that was capped by Rudolphis jumpshot with 3:37 left in the game gave the Sycamores a 73-60 cushion that was enough. The lead ballooned to as many as 14 in the second half before the dust cleared with ISU a 79-69 victory in its league opener. The win was ISUs first MVC road opening win since the 2003 season when the Sycamores opened that conference campaign with a victory at Illinois State. ISU improved to 10-14 all-time in conference opening contests. It was the first time that the Sycamores had faced Evansville in a MVC opener. Indiana State is right back at it on New Years Day against Southern Illinois. It will be the first Sycamore home game since the December 7 contest against Toledo. The Salukis are 1-0 in the Valley, following an 87-65 victory at Illinois State. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (EST). All tickets to the game are just $1.