Hoosiers to face No. 21 Cornhuskers on the road

When IU faces Nebraska Sunday, it will be the team’s fifth game against a ranked opponent this season.

In the previous four games, the Hoosier women’s basketball team is just 1-3. But after competing and losing two hard-fought battles to Penn State in the last three weeks, the players said they are confident heading into their road matchup against the Cornhuskers.

“It definitely helps,” senior center Simone Deloach said about IU facing the No. 11 Nittany Lions Thursday. “Our motto is to be fearless, and I think we’re going to bounce back and compete. Nebraska’s a good team. We just need to stay focused and battle.”

IU will travel to Lincoln, Neb., to face No. 21 Nebraska for the only time in the regular season.

Nebraska defeated Michigan 76-68 Thursday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Cornhuskers have won five straight games since losing to Northwestern on Jan. 26.

Senior forward Jordan Hooper leads Nebraska in scoring at 19.5 points per game. She is also a candidate for the Naismith National Player of the Year Award.

Freshman guard Larryn Brooks leads IU in scoring at 17.0 points per game. Heading into Thursday’s game against Penn State, she was seventh nationally in scoring among freshmen.

The Hoosiers will have their attention on junior Emily Cady, who leads the Cornhuskers in field goal percentage.

Cady shoots 52.7 percent from the field. She’s also Nebraska’s second-leading scorer at 13.5 points per game.

Nebraska has followed Cady’s strong shooting. The Cornhuskers shot an average of 49.8 percent from the field in their last five games.

In contrast, IU hasn’t had consistent shooting numbers in Big Ten play. In road games, the Hoosiers have shot an average of 36.4 percent from the field.

Compared to Penn State, IU Coach Curt Miller said Nebraska is a different beast.

“It’s a totally different animal,” he said. “But we’re confident that we believe in our stuff.”
Both the Lady Lions and Huskers run the Princeton offense and include a lot of motion in their offenses.

But it’s not just the similar action and motion that will give the Hoosiers trouble.

“Nebraska’s spurtability and the ability to put players in different positions every time down the floor is really troublesome,” Miller said.

Miller said the Huskers are the Hoosiers’ toughest matchup.

Before their game against Michigan, the Cornhuskers were holding opponents to 38.4 percent shooting from the field.

Additionally, they ranked first in the conference in defensive rebounding. The Cornhuskers averaged 31.1 prior to their game against the Wolverines.

When the Hoosiers face Nebraska, they will have had two days to prepare for the matchup. Miller said he knows his team will have its hands full, and have to have two really good days of practice.

Follow reporter Stuart Jackson on Twitter @Stuart_Jackson1