IU on the road again

When the IU women's basketball team travels to Tallahassee for its game against Florida State, one thing will be on the players' minds: last year's game. The two teams met in Bloomington last season and the Seminoles claimed victory over the Hoosiers 62-61. It was a shot at the buzzer by Indiana native April Traylor that bumped the Seminoles up as the victors.\nSenior Jamie Gathin remembers the game and its excitement. She said it's what will help drive the team to win this year.\n"We want to go in there and win so bad," Gathing said. "Last year they got in here with the win and it wasn't good at all."\nCoach Kathi Bennett said the Seminoles are a very athletic team with a lot of potential. Florida State has the same 3-1 record as IU, with their only loss coming to Florida. Bennett said she hopes it will be a good game with two teams competing at a competitive level.\n"We've got to play really well together," Bennett said. "Our defense needs to be very special for us to beat good teams. That's got to be a consistent area."\nJunior forward Tasheika Morris has Bennett concerned with handling the Seminole's full court pressure. Bennett said Morris is dynamite, can shoot the three off the screen with no dribble and can post up very well. Bennett added she knows it will be a challenge for IU to contain her.\nThe Seminoles are coming off a 13-15 overall record last year while IU finished last season at 17-14. \nSenior forward Jill Hartman said she hopes to see the team bounce back after its disappointing 68-56 loss to Nevada in the Alaska Shoot-out last Wednesday. \n"I think we're really hungry for a win," Hartman said. "They're a good match-up for us so I think we're ready to take them on and win."\nThe women may be hungry for a win, but traveling from Bloomington to Alaska, and back to Bloomington and now on to Florida has left the team worn out mentally and physically. While the Hoosiers have been flying here and there, the Seminoles have yet to even leave their home state.\n"It's kind of hard," Gathing said. "(It's) mentally rough. On our bodies rough, but we're better than that."\nGathing said the team has to keep fighting because the more they succeed, the more they will travel. With their eyes on the Final Four like all other teams, Gathing said if they get used to the traveling now they will handle it better later. \nHartman said the long flights to and from Alaska and back-to-back hard games have them worn out, but that they are still working hard.\n"I think the main thing is we need as much rest as we can get," Hartman said. "Right now we just need to rest and work on the things we learned in Alaska."\nGathing said the Hoosiers know they need to attack more on the full court and work on their defense to give Florida State a good game. \n"I know I want to get back in there and show them that we can win," she said. "If we win it will be a big win for us"