Rebounding key in Hoosiers home loss to Michigan State

Rebounding plagued the IU women’s basketball team throughout its 72-68 loss to Michigan State Thursday night in Assembly Hall. \nMichigan State earned a 45-31 rebounding advantage and scrapped and clawed its way to 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second chance points. \n“That was us coming out of the gates with heart and with energy and a mental focus on hitting the boards,” Michigan State’s Allyssa DeHaan said after the game. “I think we definitely outworked them on the boards.”\nDeHaan, a 6-foot-9 center, led the Spartans’ rebounding efforts grabbing 15 rebounds to go along with her 16 points. Guards Brittney Thomas and Kalisha Keane added 8 and 5 rebounds, respectively. \nAfter the game, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she was disappointed in her teams’ rebounding effort.\n“We understand DeHaan getting her 15 rebounds, but we don’t understand their point guard Brittney Thomas coming down with eight rebounds,” she said. “I thought we could have done a better job of getting those guards off the boards.”\nWhile Thomas’ rebounding frustrated Legette-Jack, DeHaan said it came as no surprise. \n“She’s a strong rebounding guard for us and she knows how to get in and out of people and where to go and she grabs it strong and goes,” DeHaan said.\nWhen the two teams met on Jan. 20 in East Lansing, IU outrebounded Michigan State 48-36 on the way to a 70-56 victory. Tonight was a different story, though, and Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant attributed the reversal to the strong rebounding of her big center.\n“I thought (DeHaan) made a huge difference,” Merchant said. “This was probably by far her best rebounding game of the year. She just went up and got rebounds that she didn’t get before. Whether we were in man or zone, she really went up and snatched ones offensively and defensively. I think the more aggressive she can be on the boards the better.”\nJunior forward Whitney Thomas leads IU with 9.4 rebounds per game, which is third in the conference. Junior forward Amber Jackson is tied for 11th in the conference at 6.3 rebounds per game. Thomas sat for much of the first half with foul trouble, and Michigan State held her to only two rebounds, well below her average. The Spartans also held Jackson below her average, limiting her to five rebounds. \n“We knew their two post players were one of the top rebounding combos in the conference,” she said. “We knew that we had to come out and put a body on them and hit the boards strong. I think everyone on our team did that well tonight.”\nWith an undersized team, IU has remained focused on rebounding throughout the season. Legette-Jack often stresses box-out drills in practice. While tonight wasn’t the teams’ best effort on the glass, Legette-Jack said her team will continue to improve in that regard. “We’ll get better with that,” she said.