Hoosiers down Mastodons 69-68 in tight in-state battle

FORT WAYNE -- The IU women's basketball team might be giving coach Felisha Legette-Jack wins, but they're not coming easy. \nThe Hoosiers had to fight off a last-second chance by IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne to defeat the Mastodons 69-68 Sunday and improve their record to 8-2. The Hoosiers have won three of their last four games, with each of the three wins decided by three or fewer points.\n"My brother always tells me an ugly win is better than a pretty loss," Legette-Jack said. "It was an ugly game, but one thing we talk about is those that are most invested will be the last to surrender, and we were not going to surrender this game."\nSophomore Whitney Thomas recorded her third double-double of the season for the Hoosiers, finishing the game with 21 points and 14 rebounds.\nBefore the game, Legette-Jack switched up her starting five. Freshman Jamie Braun and senior Sarah McKay started in place of sophomore Kim Roberson and senior Carrie Smith.\n"We changed up the lineup because we're trying to nurse Kim back to health and we thought the lineup change in the post would be conducive for what we're trying to do in the long haul," Legette-Jack said.\nThe move paid off for the Hoosiers as McKay scored 13 for IU and Braun recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points with 11 rebounds.\n"I've been struggling a lot lately," Braun said. "I knew if I couldn't get it done on offense, I'd have to at least give my hardest on defense. I wanted the boards. I was going to get the ball, and I didn't care who I went through to get them."\nThe Mastodons were able to stay in contention in the first half, trailing the Hoosiers by only three, 32-29, as they entered the locker room at halftime.\nIPFW came out of halftime running on all cylinders, jumping out to a 6-2 run early in the second half to take the lead. The Mastodons continued challenging the Hoosiers in the second half as they started sinking threes. IPFW, which had only made two out of its 12 shots from beyond the arc in the first half, converted on seven of 12 in the second half.\nWith just more than a minute to go in the game, the two teams were tied at 65. Thomas broke open the deadlock by making a shot over an IPFW defender to give IU a 67-65 lead. \n"Coach Jack has been getting on me about looking at the basket," Thomas said. "I looked at the basket and it was there, so I just took it in and shot it, and thankfully, it went in."\nThe Mastodons' Ashley Johnson attempted to tie the game at the other end of the court but aired the ball, giving possession back to the Hoosiers. Junior Nikki Smith appeared to shut the door on IPFW, making two free throws with 22 seconds left and extending the Hoosiers' lead to four. The Mastodons responded by making yet another three-point shot, this one by Johnna Lewis-Carlisle with five seconds left. The ensuing inbound pass bounced off Smith and went out of bounds, giving IPFW one last chance. But the Mastodons were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded, and IU walked away with another win.\n"We knew from the beginning that in-state games are always going to be tough," Thomas said. "We played to the end and came up on top"