Smiles all around after IU upsets No. 20 OSU

The IU women’s basketball team was all smiles after its 69-61 overtime win over No. 20 Ohio State on Monday night at Assembly Hall. \n“It’s a good day, because we can see our young women’s teeth,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said after the game. “They’re smiling.”\nAfter a 30-point loss at Wisconsin on Wednesday, the Hoosiers needed something to smile about. \n“We just came off a real tough situation out at Wisconsin, and we jumped on them really hard, and they handled it,” Legette-Jack said. “They came in to practice and they went three days hard. They paid attention to the defense and they bonded together. It’s really great to see that.”\nAfter Ohio State led 26-25 at halftime, the Buckeyes scored the first five points of the second half, before Legette-Jack called a quick timeout with 18:37 left in the game.\n“I thought we were playing not to lose, and that’s not what we were going to be good at,” she said. “We need to play committed basketball and defend the way we normally defend and not look at the score. I just quietly reminded them that we have a chance to be great if we play Indiana basketball.”\nIt took awhile, but Legette-Jack’s message eventually got through to the players. \nOhio State led by as many as 12 points in the second half, but the Hoosiers responded. IU continued to chip away at the Buckeyes’ lead and eventually forced overtime. \n“Our goal was to not look at the score, just keep plugging away and continue to stay \nbattle-ready for the entire 40 minutes,” Legette-Jack said. “All we wanted to do was give ourselves a shot. If we would’ve started looking at the score and panicking over that, we would’ve took ourselves out of it.”\nIU made an adjustment and attacked the basket offensively to score easy baskets and get to the free-throw line. The Hoosiers shot 21-of-24 from the foul line. \n“I think they played very well and they really took it to our guards and beat us off the dribble,” Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. “I thought their guards played very well.”\nWith IU trailing 52-46 with 6:09 to play, sophomore guard Jamie Braun scored seven straight points to put the Hoosiers up 52-51. \n“She’s just a very good offensive player,” Foster said of Braun. “She doesn’t shy away from having the ball in her hands with the game on the line. I thought she just made some big-time plays.”\nAfter scoring only six points in the first half, Braun said she made an effort to play more aggressively.\n“Second half, I just started attacking more,” Braun said. “The first half, I wasn’t playing my game. The second half, I just came out and played my game. I had some penetration and I made some baskets.”\nAfter finishing regulation tied at 54, the Hoosiers outscored Ohio State 15-7 in the overtime period. After all the Hoosiers have been through lately, Legette-Jack said it was a fitting ending. \n“Our ladies have been practicing too hard to relinquish this game,” she said. “I’m just really proud of them.”