Sparked by a career-high 22 points from Chloe Williams, the Indiana State women’s basketball team squeaked by Southeast Missouri State on the road 68-65 on Saturday night.
Also for the Sycamores, Keslyn Secrist contributed 14 points and Saige Stahl led the team in rebounds with 10 in a competitive game until the end.
SEMO took an early lead, but with turnovers and a scoring drought, that led to a 6-0 run by ISU and a tied game at 7-7 with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter.
The visitors regained the lead by a pair of Stahl free throws with 1:11 to go in the quarter to make it 11-9. The end of the first quarter saw ISU holding a 13-12 advantage.
The Sycamores looked to dictate the pace in the second quarter, but SEMO matched them per bucket. The Redhawks then stretched the margin to four points with a steal and a layup.
SEMO went on a 12-0 run to go up by 10 as ISU struggled to find the bottom of the hoop and turned the ball over multiple times. While ISU found itself down double digits, it rallied to cut it down to 32-25 by halftime.
ISU went just 7 of 28 from the field in the first half whereas SEMO went 12 of 30. However, the Sycamores outrebounded the Redhawks 19-14 and converted 10 of 12 free throws in the first half.
In the third quarter, the Sycamores came out fighting as they chipped away at the deficit and made it a close battle. The teams traded buckets as the scoring increased. At the end of the quarter, the Sycamores trailed 53-50.
The fourth quarter saw the home team quickly go up five. But the Sycamores continued to fight and narrowed it to one at 61-60 with 2:36 to go. But like earlier in the game, SEMO widened the gap, this time to five with a steal/layup combination.
But a fielder from Secrist pulled Indiana State within three. Williams then sunk a bucket to pull the Sycamores within 65-64 with a little less than a minute to go.
These baskets kick-started an 8-0 run, which culminated with a pair of free throws by Secrist that sealed the outcome.
ISU (2-4) will play Tuesday at Marquette, starting at 7:30 p.m. Southeast Missouri State is now 1-5.
