Hoosiers win Big Ten thriller against Badgers

With No. 7 Ohio State on the horizon, the IU women's basketball team won a 71-64 thriller Thursday night in Madison, Wisc., against the Badgers. The Hoosiers trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, but fought back and held off a tenacious Badgers team.\n"Give Wisconsin a lot of credit," IU coach Sharon Versyp said. "We finished the game at the end. We held them where we were supposed to hold them." \nThe win was the third conference road victory of the year for IU.\n"No game is easy on the road," senior forward Jenny DeMuth said. "We battled from beginning to end, and it feels great to get the win."\nBehind sophomore guard Jolene Anderson, the Badgers recovered from an early deficit to take a 19-13 lead.\nBattling early foul trouble with the frontcourt, IU turned to junior forward Carrie Smith. Smith helped spark the offense, scoring five first-half points. A Smith three-point play capped off an IU run that tied the game at 27. However, Wisconsin recovered to take a 33-29 lead at halftime. \nIU stalled on offense as the Badgers took an early second-half lead. Unlike Sunday, when the Hoosiers were unable to come back from a large deficit, IU went on an 11-0 run of its own to take a 45-44 lead.\nThe two teams exchanged baskets before 3-pointers on consecutive possessions from junior guard Leah Enterline and Valentin allowed the Hoosiers to extend their lead.\nThe offensive dominance continued as IU went on another run, 12-0, punctuated by two buckets from senior center Angie Hawkins to give the Cream and Crimson a 61-50 advantage.\nWith the game falling away from the Badgers, Wisconsin began to pressure IU in the frontcourt. The Hoosiers struggled to adjust, allowing the Badgers to edge closer with only minutes remaining.\nComing out of a timeout, with its lead down to just three, Versyp called for the "flea-flicker." Valentin inbounded the ball to DeMuth on the baseline who then baseball-passed the ball down court to a sprinting Valentin who laid the ball in to give the Hoosiers a five-point lead. IU held on, winning the tight game in exciting fashion.\nVersyp said following the game that she "dreamt about the play" the previous night and that it "worked out perfectly" for her Hoosiers Thursday night. The victory lifted IU to 12-9 overall and 6-4 in conference play.\n"Wisconsin is a good team, and this is a big win for us," Valentin said.\nThe Hoosiers will now return home Sunday for their match up with No. 7 Ohio State, which is currently in second place in the Big Ten.