With 3.5 seconds to play and IU women’s basketball up three against Chattanooga, IU senior guard Alexis Gassion was at the line for the front end of a one-and-one. She was preparing to shoot when music started to play. She got another chance to shoot, but missed.
Chattanooga Mocs guard Keiana Gilbert got the rebound and hustled up court. She had time for two dribbles. She had to throw it up from half court. It was one of those moments where the gym got quiet. The shot had a chance. It was falling and eventually clanged off the back rim and fell out. IU had survived.
The No. 23 Hoosiers battled all game long to come away with a 79-76 win against the Mocs to move to 3-0 on the season.
“Give a lot of credit to Chattanooga. They played a tough game,” IU assistant coach Janese Banks said to Greg Murray of IU radio. “Credit to our basketball team — it is tough to win on the road, no matter where you’re playing. Coach told them before the game, ‘Stick together, no matter the highs and lows, stick together,’ and I thought our girls really did that.”
Nothing was going to be easy for IU during their visit to the McKenzie Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Mocs had lost just three times in five years in that building. IU made it four.
Behind a 23-point performance by IU junior guard Tyra Buss, the Hoosiers were able to fight off a good Chattanooga team and come away with a win. It was a game that featured 11 lead changes and five ties. The Hoosiers could have laid down. Instead they fought and came away with a much-deserved |victory.
“I just feel like everyone really came in and played their roles,” Banks said. “Whether they played a little or a lot, everyone came in and gave us something.”
IU Coach Teri Moren said she was expecting a “dogfight” before the game. All game long, the pace was up and down. The Hoosiers used a complete team effort to come away with a win in the first of two straight road games.
IU senior forward Jenn Anderson didn’t start but played a big part in the win when IU sophomore Kym Royster fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Moren said before the game that Anderson or Royster could be poised for big games, and it was Anderson who finished with 12 points, including eight points in the first half.
“Coach made some tremendous adjustments throughout the game and trusted the staff,” Banks said. “I thought we worked really well together and our players bought in. So proud of the Hoosiers and how they fought. I love the chemistry of the Hoosiers.”
Chattanooga fell back into some zone defense, which Moren said she expected beforehand. IU was ready for it and used the three-pointer to its advantage. On 17 attempts from behind the arc, the Hoosiers made eight of those. They all seemed to come at big moments. Overall, IU shot 51.7 percent from the field.
It doesn’t get much easier from here. The Hoosiers will stay on the road and take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday.
Banks said these two games are absolutely the types of tests IU wants before conference play begins.
“This is why we put this schedule together,” Banks said. “Not only do we play a tough Chattanooga team, we have to turn around and play a tough Western Kentucky team who is an NCAA team and is experienced in that aspect too. This is what we want. We need to know how to play up, how to play down.”
