NCAA Tournament hopes fade after Big Ten Tournament loss

INDIANAPOLIS – Any lingering NCAA Tournament hopes likely faded for the IU women’s basketball team March 7 with a second-round loss to rival Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament. What future awaits the Hoosiers now is all speculation. \nAn NCAA berth is almost out of the question, but a WNIT appearance could be on the horizon in Bloomington. \nIU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said after her team’s quarterfinal loss that she hoped her team got a chance to play postseason basketball. \n“I’m not sure what’s at stake,” Legette-Jack said to the media after her team’s loss, “but we’d welcome any opportunity to play in the postseason for this young team to get more experience.” \nThe Hoosiers were likely off the bubble – the wrong way – meaning their lone hope of an NCAA bid would have had to come from a conference tournament title. Junior forward Amber Jackson said she and her teammates entered the tournament with the attitude that they were there to go all the way. \nOn the surface, IU would seem an ideal team for the WNIT, which they played in last year. The Hoosiers are just a win off their 19-14 final mark last year after losing to Purdue, and they have quality wins over No. 14 West Virginia and No. 22 Ohio State. \nHowever, given the overall weakness of the Big Ten, it may not be that easy. \nThirty-one of the 48 spots in the WNIT are given to the best team in each conference that did not make the NCAA Tournament. Of the five teams ahead of IU in the Big Ten standings, only the Buckeyes and Iowa seem locked into the field of 65. \nMinnesota and Michigan State are bubble teams, and Purdue’s 16-14 record suggests they need to win the Big Ten Tournament to make it to the big dance. \nThat leaves just 17 spots open for the Hoosiers once the field is filled, unless all five of those aforementioned teams make the field. \nShana Daniels, assistant media relations director in charge of women’s basketball, said after the game that the Hoosiers will hear from the WNIT after Selection Monday in nine days’ time. The WNIT will make their selections immediately after the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced. \nLegette-Jack refrained from speculating on her team’s postseason possibilities, simply saying she hopes her team can get a chance to play more basketball this year. \n“I hope that we could be considered for the postseason, because this team could value from postseason experience,” she said. \nThe experience she spoke of refers to the youth present on the Hoosiers’ roster this season – IU had six freshmen and eight new players on their squad this season. \nTheir youth isn’t something the Hoosiers have ever used as an excuse, but junior forward Amber Jackson said after the game she and her teammates do recognize that they will need to work hard in the offseason to improve on this year’s record. \n“We’re a good team, we’re gonna get better,” she said. \nJackson, IU leading scorer with 20 points, said no matter what the rest of the Hoosiers’ season holds – if anything – she thinks this loss to Purdue will fuel her team’s fire in the offseason. \n“This definitely puts some fire under us,” Jackson said, “to take everything more serious and know that we never want to feel this way again.”