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The Lady Shocks (13-6, 7-1) need to bounce back from their poor performance against Illinois State quickly as Indiana State (10-10, 4-4) visits Koch Arena Sunday to close out the 1st half of the Valley Season.
The Lady Shocks will still be in a strong position at the midway point if they can win this game. That will put the Shocks at 8-1. If Missouri State can take care of Illinois State in Springfield then the Lady Shocks will carry a 2-game lead into the second half.
Indiana State started strong in MVC play at 4-0 with home wins over Evansville, SIU and Illinois State (67-53) and a nice road win at UNI. However, they have now lost 4 straight at Bradley and Missouri State and at home against Creighton and Drake. So it's hard to predict which team will show up on Sunday. The fact that they handled ILS so easily tells you they are very capable of beating the Lady Shocks. The Shocks will have to play much better than they did Friday vs Illinois State to win this game.
The Shocks need to find some offense and they need to improve their rebounding. While Inidana State does not shoot the 3-ball as well as Illinois State who came to town as the 3rd best 3-point shooting team in the nation, they do like the 3-ball. Indiana State is cranking up 19.2 treys per game and making 33.9% of those. However, they are shooting 39.2% of their treys in conference play. 37% of their shots come from behind the arc.
Indiana State is similar to Illinois State in that they have balanced scoring and get 80% of their scoring from their starting lineup which is likely to be:
6'4" SR C Shannon Thomas - 12.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 65.8% FT Shooter, but is hitting 80% in MVC play - This will be a tough match-up for the Shocks. She had 13 points and 8 rebounds against MSU on Friday.
6'0" Sr G/F Deja Mattox - 13.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 36-74 (48.6%) 3-Pt Shooter, 85.2% FT Shooter - Perhaps the Sycamores best all-round player. Mattox pumped in a career high 31 points in they Sycamores' loss to MSU on Friday on only 14 shots. She was 7-10 on treys and 4-4 from the line. Might also be a tough match-up for the Lady Shocks. Deja is a little inconsisent in her scoring she has 8 games in single digits (including two 2-point games) and 5 games of 20+ points (20,22,23,25 and 31).
5'6" Sr G Brittany Schoen - 10.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 48-157 (30.6%) 3-Pt Shooter, 76.9% - Not a great % but looks like she loves the 3-ball and is not bashful about taking them. However, at 5'6" Shocks should be able to defend her if they put their minds to it.
Thomas is already a 1,000 point career scorer and Mattox (962) and Schoen (993) are poised to join that club.
5'10' So G Anna Munn - 10.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 36-87 (41.4%) 3-Pt Shooter, 94.3% FT shooter - don't want to foul this young lady. At 33-35 doesn't get to the line a lot.
5'9" Jr G Taylor Whitley - 7.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG - does not shoot many treys (1-8) - also only hitting 61.4% from the line. Just recently worked her way back into the starting lineup after starting the season opener and then missing 10 games due to injury.
Most likely support off the bench:
6'1" Fr F Racheal Mahan whose PT and production has jumped in conference play. In 8 MVC games she is averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 15.4 MPG
5'9" Fr G Natasha Zurek whose PT and production has dropped a little in conference play. In 8 MVC games she is averaging 2.8 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 13.5 MPG. My guess is her playing time has diminished with Whitley Taylor getting back in the lineup.
5'9" Fr G Jessica Valley who averages 2.1 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 14.1 MPG
The Sycamores are similar to the Shocks in that their starting lineups are pretty experienced but their bench support is pretty inexperienced.
The Shocks generally start 2 Seniors and 3 Juniors. All the players available to the Shocks off the bench are all 1st year D-1 players.
Good luck Lady Shocks.
The Lady Shocks will still be in a strong position at the midway point if they can win this game. That will put the Shocks at 8-1. If Missouri State can take care of Illinois State in Springfield then the Lady Shocks will carry a 2-game lead into the second half.
Indiana State started strong in MVC play at 4-0 with home wins over Evansville, SIU and Illinois State (67-53) and a nice road win at UNI. However, they have now lost 4 straight at Bradley and Missouri State and at home against Creighton and Drake. So it's hard to predict which team will show up on Sunday. The fact that they handled ILS so easily tells you they are very capable of beating the Lady Shocks. The Shocks will have to play much better than they did Friday vs Illinois State to win this game.
The Shocks need to find some offense and they need to improve their rebounding. While Inidana State does not shoot the 3-ball as well as Illinois State who came to town as the 3rd best 3-point shooting team in the nation, they do like the 3-ball. Indiana State is cranking up 19.2 treys per game and making 33.9% of those. However, they are shooting 39.2% of their treys in conference play. 37% of their shots come from behind the arc.
Indiana State is similar to Illinois State in that they have balanced scoring and get 80% of their scoring from their starting lineup which is likely to be:
6'4" SR C Shannon Thomas - 12.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 65.8% FT Shooter, but is hitting 80% in MVC play - This will be a tough match-up for the Shocks. She had 13 points and 8 rebounds against MSU on Friday.
6'0" Sr G/F Deja Mattox - 13.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 36-74 (48.6%) 3-Pt Shooter, 85.2% FT Shooter - Perhaps the Sycamores best all-round player. Mattox pumped in a career high 31 points in they Sycamores' loss to MSU on Friday on only 14 shots. She was 7-10 on treys and 4-4 from the line. Might also be a tough match-up for the Lady Shocks. Deja is a little inconsisent in her scoring she has 8 games in single digits (including two 2-point games) and 5 games of 20+ points (20,22,23,25 and 31).
5'6" Sr G Brittany Schoen - 10.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 48-157 (30.6%) 3-Pt Shooter, 76.9% - Not a great % but looks like she loves the 3-ball and is not bashful about taking them. However, at 5'6" Shocks should be able to defend her if they put their minds to it.
Thomas is already a 1,000 point career scorer and Mattox (962) and Schoen (993) are poised to join that club.
5'10' So G Anna Munn - 10.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 36-87 (41.4%) 3-Pt Shooter, 94.3% FT shooter - don't want to foul this young lady. At 33-35 doesn't get to the line a lot.
5'9" Jr G Taylor Whitley - 7.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG - does not shoot many treys (1-8) - also only hitting 61.4% from the line. Just recently worked her way back into the starting lineup after starting the season opener and then missing 10 games due to injury.
Most likely support off the bench:
6'1" Fr F Racheal Mahan whose PT and production has jumped in conference play. In 8 MVC games she is averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.3 RPG in 15.4 MPG
5'9" Fr G Natasha Zurek whose PT and production has dropped a little in conference play. In 8 MVC games she is averaging 2.8 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 13.5 MPG. My guess is her playing time has diminished with Whitley Taylor getting back in the lineup.
5'9" Fr G Jessica Valley who averages 2.1 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 14.1 MPG
The Sycamores are similar to the Shocks in that their starting lineups are pretty experienced but their bench support is pretty inexperienced.
The Shocks generally start 2 Seniors and 3 Juniors. All the players available to the Shocks off the bench are all 1st year D-1 players.
Good luck Lady Shocks.
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