Senior guard takes charge in historic night

Senior point guard Heather Cassady peered over her shoulder at her teammates during a timeout in Saturday's game. She shook her hands and shouted to the Hoosiers, "Settle down, white."\nNorthern Arizona had chopped IU's lead to 28-23, and Cassady didn't want to see her team's morale drop. Her teammates weren't hitting their shots, so the senior captain took matters into her own hands.\nJunior Jill Hartman inbounded the ball to Cassady during the Hoosiers' next possession. Cassady immediately launched a three-pointer. With the field goal Cassady not only rescued her team from relinquishing the lead, but also reached the 1,000-career-point mark.\nAfter tallying 34 points and six assists during the two Holiday Inn/Fazoli's Classic tournament wins, Cassady became the fourth Hoosier to boast more than 1,000 career points (1,006) and more than 300 assists (303). She ranks 15th on IU's all-time scoring list. Her performance earned her recognition as the unanimous most valuable player at the tournament. \n"It has a lot to do with the people you play with -- getting the ball and a lot of hard work," Cassady said, shrugging her shoulders. "To be honest with you, I really didn't know about it. I knew about it maybe a week ago."\nBesides shattering records, Cassady made heroic efforts throughout the Hoosiers' 61-56 win, scoring when the Lumberjacks narrowed IU's lead and hitting her shots when her teammates missed point-blank baskets and lost the ball out of bounds.\nShe led the Hoosiers with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 3-of-5 three pointers. She also had two assists, three rebounds and a steal. In the first half, she tallied 14 of the Hoosiers' 31 points.\nCassady displayed aggressive, accurate shooting and feistiness on ball control. She pursued the Lumberjacks' speedy guards and on one occasion, dived alongside senior center Jill Chapman and came up with the ball after Northern Arizona's Lynsie Blau dropped a pass. \n"Every time we needed a score or a big shot, I felt like she came through for us," coach Kathi Bennett said. "She had to play 40 minutes, and she's the genuine article. Whatever it takes to get done, she'll do it."\nWith six minutes remaining in the first half, Cassady heaved an off-balance jumper while guarded man-to-man to extend the score to 20-15. Less than two minutes later, she hit a three-pointer to make the score 24-17.\nCassady repeated the feat with four minutes left in the second half when she nailed a three-pointer near the IU bench to build the Hoosiers lead to 54-50. To seal the victory, she passed to Chapman under the basket with 13 seconds remaining.\n"That basket's all to Heather," Chapman said. "She drove and dished to me."\nGone for the season\nThe Hoosiers won the two games without junior starting point guard Kristen Bodine, who tore her ACL a week ago and will miss the rest of the season. \n"We have to figure out a way to play without her and keep winning," Bennett said. "That's our challenge. We wish we could get her back, but we can't. We have to figure out a way to keep winning without her."\nCassady has filled in at the point, a position she has played the three previous seasons at IU. Freshman Jenny DeMuth has started at shooting guard. Bodine plans to pursue a medical redshirt.\n"We miss her, but...she's always going to be there," Cassady said. "She's on the sidelines cheering us on. She's a captain and I think she's always going to be a big presence and a leader throughout the season"