Jackson key to season-opening win

If her first game as a Hoosier is any indication, Amber Jackson is just as good as advertised. \nThe junior forward – who transferred to IU after two years at San Jose State – led all scorers with 22 points in the IU women’s basketball team’s season-opening 67-59 win over Albany on Friday night at Assembly Hall.\nJackson, who led the Western Athletic Conference in scoring and rebounding her sophomore year, also grabbed nine rebounds and four blocks.\n“It felt really good to be out there and playing again, feeling like myself and just playing hard, just doing what I can to help the team,” Jackson said.\nThe Hoosiers as a team struggled at times against the Great Danes, especially when facing the visitors’ defensive pressure. \nIU notched 17 turnovers – 13 in the first half – and were edged in total rebounding 49-42.\nBut in the end, the Hoosiers’ own defense forced 20 turnovers and held a 24-11 edge in points off giveaways. Additionally, the Hoosiers were 23-of-34 from the free-throw line, while Albany was just 7-of-9.\n“The big difference in the game is who goes to the free-throw line the most,” Albany coach Trina Patterson said. “That was the difference in the game.”\nIU struggled mightily from the field, shooting 22-59 for the game and a startling 0-14 from beyond the arc. Other than Jackson and junior forward Whitney Thomas, the team shot 8-37, just 21.6 percent from the field. \nHowever, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she knows her team will shoot the ball better this season.\n“I know that we’re a good shooting team,” Legette-Jack said. “We are a fantastic shooting team. Once we get our nerves down and get our legs underneath us, we’re going to be just fine.”\nIU’s poor shooting and turnovers, as well as early foul trouble for some starters, contributed to the nine-point deficit the Hoosiers faced at halftime. Legette-Jack said Albany’s intensity and pressure led to IU’s first-half struggles. \n“They punched us in the face,” Legette-Jack said. “And we staggered, and we almost fell. … We came back and we played Indiana basketball.”\nLegette-Jack mentioned the play of two freshmen – Whitney Lindsay and Jori Davis – as key to keeping IU in the game, even as Albany stretched the lead to 14 early in the second half.\nLindsay said she felt “tired” at halftime, but thought the Hoosiers really got things rolling in the second half, something their 42-25 second-half advantage on the scoreboard would suggest. \n“That’s usually how you feel when you’re down at half,” Lindsay said. “But the second half, I felt great the whole half. I felt like the intensity was just up to another level.”\nLegette-Jack also said her team’s conditioning played a factor down the stretch, and the Great Danes began to look winded and their press started to falter late in the second half. \n“No one’s going to be in better shape than our team,” Legette-Jack said.\nEven Patterson admitted her team tired toward the end of the game, and Jackson’s play in the paint was perhaps her team’s greatest defensive weakness. She compared Jackson to Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, who set the women’s NCAA record for rebounds in a season with 539 in 2005-2006.\n“She’s hard to guard,” Patterson said. “… When you’ve got somebody with that size, it’s like guarding Shaq in the paint. She can do a lot of damage.”