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The Indiana Daily Student

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IU takes on SMU in WNIT Round of 16

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As IU enters its third game of the Women’s National Invitiation Tournament, new contributors have emerged for the Hoosiers at what could be just the right time.

When IU welcomes SMU to Bloomington for a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday night, it will be the 33rd game of the season for the Hoosiers. For a team that gets more than 75 percent of its scoring from starters, any bench player who can be productive becomes more important as the season wears on.

With four forwards that stand six-foot-two or taller, SMU’s height will likely require IU Coach Teri Moren to use a pair of reserve forwards, freshman Darby Foresman and sophomore Kym Royster, more than usual. Both have seen a fair amount of action in the past few games, and Royster in particular has taken advantage of her postseason playing time.

Through the first two games of the WNIT, which saw IU take down Ball State and Saint Louis, Royster has scored 10 points, gathered nine rebounds and committed just two fouls in 27 
minutes of play.

“It gives me a lot of confidence, especially coming out of a slump toward the end of the season,” Royster said. “Playing with the upperclassmen and people that have been around, that helps with my confidence.”

SMU brings a 19-14 record into the matchup with IU, which is 22-10. If SMU is to win Thursday’s game, it will likely do so by relying on its defense. The Mustangs score 16 points per game fewer than the Hoosiers, so IU’s season average of 75.8 points per game gives the Hoosiers an edge if the game turns into a shootout.

The Mustangs will seek to prevent the Hoosiers from getting anywhere near 75 points by using their elite rim protection. SMU has the 12th-most blocks among NCAA teams this season, with four different Mustangs averaging more than a block per game. SMU has 185 rejections so far this year, while IU has just 86 blocks and not a single player who averages one per game.

A battle of star junior forwards could decide Thursday’s game because IU’s Amanda Cahill and SMU’s Alicia Froling will face off in the paint. Cahill averages 15.1 points and nine rebounds per game, while Froling leads the Mustangs with 14.2 points and 10 rebounds per game. Moren said although it will be important for Cahill to defend Froling well, it will be far more important to keep Cahill out of foul trouble.

Defensively, Moren said she doesn’t plan to change anything despite the fact that SMU also has two centers that have several inches on IU’s senior center Jenn Anderson.

“We won’t adjust to them,” Moren said. “We’re going to stay with what we’ve been doing and how we’ve been playing. I feel, again, really comfortable about the scouting report or the prep that we’ve done.”

Though the Hoosiers aren’t in the NCAA Tournament like they were last season, Moren pointed out her team has still advanced further into the postseason this year than last, when it bowed out in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Moren’s team has gotten where it is by staying true to itself, and she said the opponent will never change the styles of her team. With such a high-scoring bunch, it’s clear what that style will be for IU on Thursday night.

“Obviously we want to play fast, so we’re going to try to dictate that as much as we can as far as our tempo and our pace,” Moren said. “If it’s a slow pace, that doesn’t bode well for us.”

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