Freshman explodes against Boilers

INDIANAPOLIS -- A pivotal reason why the IU women's basketball team lost by a mere two points to arch-rival No. 6 Purdue Saturday was the performance of freshman center Angela Hawkins. The 6-foot-3-inch center grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in addition to scoring nine points. \n"This was her second back-to-back wonderful game," coach Kathi Bennett said. "She has been especially good defensively."\nIn the Hoosier's last game, Hawkins exploded with 18 rebounds and 15 points against North Texas Wednesday, in only 24 minutes of action.\nBennett said she was satisfied with Hawkins' effort, especially on the defensive side of the ball against the Boliermakers.\n"Defensively she was solid," Bennett said. "She will only get better. But defensively she really gave us a lift."\nThanks in large part to Hawkins, IU limited Purdue senior center Mary Jo Noon. Despite a two inch advantage over any Hoosier player, Noon, who was averaging 12.7 points per game coming into this contest, was held scoreless with no rebounds deep into the second half. Noon did not score until the five-minute mark of the game as she hit a pair of free throws. The Purdue center finished the game with four points and only two rebounds.\nMeanwhile, Hawkins has grown accustomed to rebounding as she recorded her sixth double-figure rebounding game this year. However, she said she was more impressed with her defensive performance against the more physically mature Noon.\n"I played her very well," Hawkins said. "But it wasn't just me, we had so many people stepping up. We helped well on defense. That was important."\nHawkins play rubbed off on other IU players. Besides Hawkins, senior forward Lisa Eckart tallied 10 rebounds.\nBut Hawkins, who recorded five rebounds in the final nine minutes, demonstrated that she was not intimated by the more experienced Noon or the intense environment. \nWith under 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Hawkins made a field goal to give the Hoosiers a six point lead. Less than a minute later, she corralled an offensive rebound on a miss by freshman guard Kali Kullberg and immediately was fouled. She made both free throws to give IU a six point lead again. But Hawkins struggled from the free throw line in the game and down the stretch. She only made 5-12 from the charity-strip for the game. As a team, IU missed 13 free throws. \nHawkins described the team's rebounding performance and the part she played in that effort. She said the team was dominating on the boards. She was trying to do whatever she could, Hawkins said. \n"We depend on each other for help on defense," Eckart said. "Angie seemed to be everywhere helping on defense. She was a real presence and stopped Noon."\nHawkins did not take sole credit for her performance. She said all of the freshmen stepped up and took on the pressure in the raucous and spacious RCA Dome. She said all of the freshmen should be really good by the end of the season and cannot wait to see them in the future.\nBennett does not disagree with Hawkins and praised her defense.\n"Her defense has improved tremendously, and her offensive skills are progressing," Bennett said. "If Angie keeps improving who knows where she could be"