IU tops Michigan on Think Pink day

The IU women’s basketball team (15-11, 8-6) took on a different look on its way to a 74-65 victory over Michigan (14-10, 7-7) Sunday afternoon at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers wore pink headbands and pink warm-ups in honor of Think Pink and National Girls and Women in Sports Day. \nFans in attendance Sunday also wore pink to support breast cancer awareness and watched the Hoosiers get back in the win column after a loss to Michigan State Thursday night. \n“Our team played poised and we played focused,” said IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “Michigan is a great team as well, but we didn’t think about our opponent at all. It was all about what we came to do. Our challenge to our team today was if someone doesn’t ever see us play again, what kind of response are they going to have after this 40 minutes.” \nSophomore guard Jamie Braun and junior forward Whitney Thomas led the way for the Hoosiers, scoring 22 and 19 points, respectively. For Thomas, the impressive scoring output came after her four point game against Michigan State Thursday. \n“That was an off game that I had, and coach Jack said I need to change,” Thomas said. “So, that’s what I did this game.”\nThe Hoosiers shot 24 free throws and made 15 of them. After the game, Legette-Jack was proud of the way her team got to the line, but said they can still earn more trips to the charity stripe.\n“We attacked the basket,” she said. “We went back to who we were, and that’s attacking the basket. When we attack the basket, great things happen. I don’t know when the last time we shot 24 free throws was. I still think we can go for 30.”\nFreshmen Georgia Follmer and Whitney Lindsay earned spots in the starting lineup Sunday in place of senior guard Nikki Smith and junior forward Amber Jackson. \nLegette-Jack said the starting lineup shuffle was due to matchups more than anything else. \n“Any given day, your number is going to be called and you are going to have to respond to that,” she said. \nLindsay responded well, playing 35 minutes on Sunday, which was also her birthday. \n“It was exciting for me because it was my birthday,” Lindsay said “It’s a different energy coming off the bench compared to as a starter. As a starter, you get the chemistry started instead of coming into it. It gave me more energy.”\nLindsay’s performance also gave her teammates extra excitement, and Legette-Jack was impressed with her play. \n“Whitney definitely responded to great minutes,” Legette-Jack said. “She played with a passion and a lot of poise. She had a lot of contributions to players that like to shoot the ball. She looked up and saw some things. I think Jaime, being a point guard, we lose sight of her being a scorer and this gave us an opportunity to utilize her as a scorer.”\nLegette-Jack said she was pleased with how her team responded after losing 65-54 at Michigan Jan. 24.\n“We were fumbling the ball. We were going left and right instead of front and back,” she said of the first game against Michigan. “I think it’s important for our team to continue to move forward and learn as we did today.”\nAt 8-6 in the Big Ten, IU regained sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings. With four more regular season games remaining in the season, Legette-Jack said she is happy with where her team stands. \n“There’s a lot of room to do some fun things in this conference,” she said.