Hoosier 3-pointers prove crucial in first- half run

The IU women’s basketball team (14-9, 7-4) let Northwestern (4-19, 0-11) hang around for much of the first half in its 74-58 victory Thursday night at Assembly Hall. \n“No energy!” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack yelled to her team from the sidelines early in the first half. \nAfter Northwestern’s Nadia Bibbs hit a wide open 3-pointer with 4:43 to play in the first half, the Hoosier lead was a tight 21-20. \nAfter Bibbs’ 3-pointer, Legette-Jack turned to the bench and was right in the faces of her players, challenging her team. \n“You have to coach the team as if you’re playing against anybody in the country,” she said after the game. “If you give anyone confidence, they become somebody great.”\nThe Hoosiers heard her message loud and clear. \nIU hit three unanswered 3-pointers to extend the lead to 30-20. In just over one minute of action, the Hoosiers increased their lead from one point to 10 points.\n“We gave up a couple possessions and they came down in transition and hit a couple three’s,” Northwestern coach Beth Combs said. “We just dug ourselves in a big hole. We were just back on our heels at that point. They just made a couple big plays and we just didn’t answer quickly enough.”\nFreshman guard Haylie Linn hit the first 3-pointer, and after a media timeout, sophomore guard Jamie Braun and junior guard Kim Roberson added 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.\n“It was just back-to-back-to-back,” Linn said of the 3-point barrage. “That’s a lot of points real fast. I definitely think that helped to break the game open. It gave us a lot of energy on defense and on offense.”\nFreshman forward Ebony Jackson hit another 3-pointer on the way to a 36-23 halftime advantage, and IU never looked back.\n“It’s frustrating to know that you’re in a game and then you allow a couple baskets,” Combs said. “You have to be able to play through streaks and play through runs, and we’re just not doing that right now.”\nIU continued its energized play in the second half and extended the lead to as many as 26 points before winning by 16.\nThe Hoosiers finished the game 8-19 from beyond the arc after missing their first two attempts. Linn finished with three 3-pointers, and Braun and Jackson added two apiece.\n“I think it all had to with the fact that we started looking for our shot,” Braun said. “We were driving and kicking it out to the open players that were just kind of hesitant about their shots. Then our players started shooting with a lot of confidence.”