Senior leader finds her time to shine

Her teammates call her "Grandma" because she sleeps more than the average college student. And at 22, she's one of the older IU women's basketball players.\nBut senior Erin McGinnis has proven to be no slouch, especially against ranked opponents this season. \nWhile center Jill Chapman and point guard Heather Cassady remain the team's stars, McGinnis' name pops up more and more in conference coaches' interviews about the Hoosiers. They praise her ability to both post up as a power forward and launch monstrous threes. \n"McGinnis has played well for them," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said before McGinnis unleashed a team-high 17 points against the No. 10 Boilermakers. "She\'s obviously opened a lot of things up inside for Jill for her to average a double-double." \nMcGinnis has displayed some of her biggest offensive bursts with 12.2-point and 6.8-rebound averages against top-25 opponents, coming in fine time for IU's Thursday contest against No. 9 Wisconsin. Treys balloon her scoring output. She ranks second at IU with 1.3 made three-pointers per game on 37 percent accuracy.\nWhile her teammates' confidence has deteriorated during their five-game losing streak, McGinnis has unearthed her own poise after battling the opposite sex in summer pickup games and finally starting after being benched for a season and a half. \n"We battled in the beginning, but we got an opportunity and she wanted to play so bad," IU coach Kathi Bennett said. "I moved her to the four spot and she really came on and accepted that challenge and wanted to play. That's Erin. She wants to get on the floor and make plays. She's a competitor."\nAfter switching from small forward to power forward last season, McGinnis aimed to improve her entire game during the summer. So, she played against men at the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation up to two hours a day, four days a week.\n"I think my ball-handling got better because I had to protect the ball from the guys' hands," McGinnis said. She has started all but one game for IU this season. "They realized I was a good shooter, so they started kicking it out to me a lot, and I think that gave me a lot of confidence in my shots."\nBut before developing that confidence, McGinnis had to be benched to obey NCAA transfer rules two seasons ago and for most of last season because of a negative attitude toward practice. She averaged 2.6 points in seven minutes during the first 21 games. She grew frustrated knowing she could play.\n"I even went through battles with Coach Bennett, but she helped me through it," McGinnis said. She also averaged three points her sophomore year at Auburn before coming to IU. \nWhen Rachael Honegger was suspended five games beginning Feb. 7, 2001, for pleading guilty to forgery, Bennett started McGinnis against No. 20 Wisconsin the next day. McGinnis immediately made an impact, picking up 16 points and 13 rebounds to spur an 83-79 upset. She averaged 11.2 points during the final 10 games, including a career-high 27 points against eventual Big Ten tournament champion Iowa.\nHawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder recalled that performance when her team travelled to Assembly Hall earlier this month. McGinnis kept the Hoosiers within victory again with 15 points and two three-pointers.\n"We saw her on film though, and that what's what was so frustrating," Bluder said after the game, "because we told them, 'Hey, she's got deep range,' and we didn't cover it."\n"I knew I could play and throughout all the non-playing years, I still knew I had the skills to be out there," McGinnis said. "Just to have the chance to go out there and prove that to myself and everyone else was really good"