Junior guard leads charge against Indiana State but Hoosiers fall, 66-59

Coming off an impressive win Friday against a scrappy Louisville Cardinals team, the IU women's basketball team looked to carry its momentum into Monday night's contest against the Sycamores of Indiana State. \nLed by junior Cyndi Valentin's 30-point performance the cream and crimson fell short of in-state rival ISU as the Hoosiers dropped their third game on the road this season, 66-59. Valentin finished the night 10-15 shooting from the floor including a career high seven three-pointers, as well as tying a career high with eight rebounds. \nSophomore Sarah McKay's 12 points and eight rebounds along with senior LeAnn Stephenson's 10 points, combined along with Valentin's scoring, accounted for 52 of the Hoosiers 59 points. Only two other players were able to find the basket for IU as senior Jamie Gathing had five points while freshman Nikki Smith added two more. \nIU started out slow, shooting only 39 percent from the floor and only 23 percent from beyond the arc. Nevertheless, IU coach Kathi Bennett's squad attempted to make a surge in the second half to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit. The Sycamores proved to be too much for the Hoosiers as IU was only able to come within five points at the 14 minute, 10 second mark of the second half.\nIndiana State played well defensively forcing 26 Hoosier turnovers while IU forced only 12 on the opposite end of the floor. The Sycamores were able to capitalize on the turnovers as they outscored the Hoosiers 25-15 on points off turnovers as well as outscoring IU in the paint, 30-16.\nThe loss brings the Hoosiers to an even mark of 3-3 on the year. IU will hit the road again for two more games against the University of Maine this Friday followed by Boston College Sunday. The cream and crimson will return to Bloomington Dec. 18 as they play host to Eastern Michigan University.