It's called the charity stripe, but it was far from kind to the IU women's basketball team Thursday night as the Hoosiers shot 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from there.
Despite shooting the ball poorly from the foul line, IU (14-0, 1-0) held off a rally in the final minute and opened conference play with an 86-84 victory against No. 22 Iowa (12-3, 0-1). The Hoosiers' 14th victory extends the best-ever start in program history.
"Big win for us in the Big Ten opener against Iowa, who you could argue was playing the best of any team in the Big Ten," IU Coach Curt Miller said.
Freshman guard Larryn Brooks lead the Hoosiers with 20 points and added 9 assists. She went 7-8 from the free throw line in the final minute of regulation.
Senior forward Tabitha Gerardot finished with a double-double on 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Junior guard Samantha Logic finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawkeyes.
IU led by as many as 12 points, but Iowa cut the lead to two points on a layup by Logic with one minute and 59 seconds remaining in the game.
Freshman guard Taylor Agler would convert one of two free throws to put the game out of the Hawkeyes' reach with three seconds left in the game.
Other first-year players also provided big contributions for the Hoosiers.
With five minutes and 36 seconds remaining in the first half, freshman guard Karlee McBride entered the game. Then a three-for-all broke out in Assembly Hall.
McBride buried back to back 3-pointers to give IU a 31-28 lead with four minutes and 54 seconds remaining in the first half. She finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range in the first half.
McBride's nine points in a stretch of one minute and 29 seconds toward the end of the first half sparked part of a 12-4 IU run. She finished with 14 points shooting 80 percent (4-of-5) from 3-point range.
"She's the unsung hero," Miller said. "She was our X-factor."
IU had lots of looks from the perimeter early in the game, but started 1-5 from 3-point range in the first seven minutes and 55 seconds of the game. A 3-pointer by sophomore forward Kaila Hulls gave IU a 16-15 lead with 12 minutes and five seconds remaining in the first half. A Simone Deloach layup put IU up 18-15 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
Iowa junior center Bethany Doolittle had 14 first half points for the Hawkeyes but also picked up two fouls. She fouled out with 4:41 remaining in regulation and finished with 20 points on 66 percent (10-of-15) shooting from the field.
Iowa had nine turnovers in the first half of play. Its season average coming into the game was 14.5 Despite those turnovers, it was only down seven at halftime.
The Hawkeyes finished with 13 turnovers.
The Hoosiers also dealt with foul trouble of their own. With senior center Sasha Chaplin picking up three fouls, senior forward Simone Deloach saw significant playing time. Deloach also finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
"With a young team, it was a little scary finish," Miller said. "But they gutted it out and stayed together and found a way all the way to that finish line"
