Hoosiers look to turn corner in Big Ten season

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder recruited IU point guard Heather Cassady when Bluder was the coach at Drake University. So Bluder knows to keep an eye on Cassady when the Hawkeyes visit Assembly Hall Sunday afternoon.\n"I have always been a Heather Cassady fan...I think she's a tremendous point guard, and I think that's what makes Indiana so scary," said Bluder, the 2001 Big Ten Coach of the Year. "They have experience at those two very important positions: the post position and the point guard position."\nCassady struggled against the Hawkeyes last year, averaging six points in two games, and has been dealing with a large back bruise that has limited her movement. But before Thursday's game against Penn State, she averaged 13.1 points and 3.2 assists. Her assist total leads the team.\nCassady and the Hoosiers (8-7, 2-2 Big Ten) battle 2001 Big Ten tournament champion Iowa (10-5, 3-2 Big Ten) Sunday at 2 p.m.\nThe Hawkeyes didn't visit Bloomington last year but beat the Hoosiers 83-56 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City and 81-76 in a quarterfinal of the Big Ten tournament. In the first game, then-senior Rainey Alting led IU with 11 points, as Jill Chapman added 10. In the second game, forward Erin McGinnis scored a career-high 27 points.\nIowa plays without a true center. Jennie Lillis, a 6-foot-1 forward, started at the post against Purdue, collecting 11 points and eight rebounds. Regular center Jerica Watson came off the bench to tally 15 points and eight rebounds.\nBluder said her team is accustomed to playing with a small lineup but will be tested against Chapman.\n"When you go against a center like Jill Chapman, who's 6-5 and such a dominating force, it's always a concern, but we're going to have to rely on our outside defense and pressuring the ball," Bluder said. "Those are the things we've relied on all year when playing a very, very good post like Jill Chapman."\nThe Hawkeyes weren't able to limit Purdue center Mary Jo Noon, who registered 18 points and seven rebounds, in Iowa's 90-75 upset of the No. 10 Boilermakers Sunday. But Iowa did successfully defend the perimeter, limiting Purdue to 17-percent three-point shooting and 39 percent overall from the field.\nIowa also produced a balanced offense. Six players scored in double figures, led by guard Lindsey Meder's 19 points and forward Beatrice Bullock's 16.\n"Their offense is very effective with the size that they have," IU coach Kathi Bennett said. "Coming off a win over Purdue, they're definitely playing very well."\nBennett said Meder, a 2000-01 first-team All-Big Ten selection, poses a major concern. Meder averaged 16.6 points on 43-percent shooting as of Thursday afternoon.\nIowa played last-place Northwestern (4-12, 0-5) last night in Iowa City. IU and Iowa garnered opposite outcomes against Ohio State. The Hawkeyes fell 82-63 in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 3, while the Hoosiers put away the Buckeyes 64-52 at Assembly Hall Dec. 28. Both teams dropped to No. 12 Wisconsin in Madison, Wis.\n"This league is up for grabs," Cassady said. "I think if we keep on working hard and put a lot of energy in practice, it will carry over in the games."\nThe Hawkeyes received 30 votes, good for 29th place, in The Associated Press national rankings. IU picked up no votes.\nBeyond statistics and polls, the Hoosiers boast two players that concern Bluder -- Chapman and that recruit that got away, Cassady.\n"Those are seniors that have seen a lot of basketball, and they're playing on their home court," Bluder said. "So it's a very scary game for us in those regards"