MOLINE, Ill. – Ashli O'Neal scored 26 points and Tamara Lee added a career-high 25 points but the hot-shooting Sycamores couldn't stop an even hotter-shooting Valparaiso squad in a 79-77 battle in the opening round of Hoops in the Heartland, the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
For O'Neal, 20 of her 26 points came in the second half as she tried to keep the eighth-seeded Sycamores (11-19) within striking distance of Valparaiso (8-23). And it almost worked. She was nearly perfect from the field – 10 of 12 – as her 83 percent shooting mark ties for the second best in a single game in Indiana State history.