Hoosier women have tough road in Big Ten

After a 10-2 start for the IU women's basketball team, including a promising 54-51 win against then-No. 16 Kentucky, it appeared things were looking up for the Hoosiers. Entering conference play, the possibility that IU could contend with the likes of Purdue and Ohio State seemed a real possibility. \nBut then reality, or what I like to call the Big Ten season, hit the Hoosiers right in the face. After two losses to Michigan State and losses to Purdue and Iowa, IU has fallen to 2-4 in the Big Ten and 13-6 overall. With another matchup against No. 12 Purdue and No. 5 Ohio State, the Hoosiers may have a tough road to hoe as they enter the second half of the Big Ten season. \nFirst-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack's primary task remains an adjustment in fundamentals and a new, winning attitude for the Hoosiers. And what she brings to these times of adversity is a wonderful track record. \nThe former 2003-2004 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, who led Hofstra to 12 conference wins, has served as an assistant coach on two gold-medal-winning USA women's basketball teams. She has served under two Big Ten coaches (including Ohio State's Jim Foster during the summer of 2003 for the USA Basketball FIBA World Championships) and as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Syracuse.\nAs a Hoosier fan, I am encouraged that the replacement for Sharon Versyp (now at Purdue) has so much experience. On the path ahead, the Hoosiers will need all the help they can get. The team has lost eight of its last nine games against Purdue and its last five against Ohio State. Legette-Jack's knowledge of Foster's approach should come in handy next week to buck that trend against the Buckeyes. \nBut as much as Legette-Jack will help in the preparation for the games, as always, the outcome of IU's season and seed in the Big Ten tournament, which begins March 1 in Indianapolis, will be determined by the way the players perform on the court. \nFloor-leader and junior guard Nikki Smith, who ranks 15th in the conference in scoring, must continue to average more than 12 points per game while raising her field-goal percentage from a 36 percent average. \nThat being said, be encouraged that her 3-point field-goal percentage is that same 36 percent, ranking sixth in the Big Ten. \nSophomore forward Whitney Thomas' nine rebounds per game must hold strong, and sophomore guard Kim Roberson needs to continue to average 2.5-plus steals per game.\nIf those players are able to hold steady and work to improve, then IU has a great shot at turning its Big Ten season around and winning some big games down the stretch. \nAs the season progresses, have confidence that the women's basketball team will improve and make a good showing in the Big Ten tournament. But a more pressing issue is at hand. The fans, I'm sure, would very much like a shocker against Purdue next week. \nIt would be great to show Versyp just what she left to go be a Boilermaker.