IU women's basketball begins play in Thanksgiving Classic

While many students spent the Thanksgiving holiday with their families, the IU women’s basketball team went sightseeing in San Fransisco.

The Hoosiers (2-2) are in the midst of a five-game road trip and will begin play in the Hilton Concord Classic in Moraga, Calif., on Friday against Radford (0-3) at 8 p.m. ET.

Earlier in the week the team snapped a two game loosing streak against the Missouri Tigers with a 63-54 victory in Columbia, Mo.

Senior forward Whitney Thomas lead the way with 23 points and 16 rebounds and said the game was imporant for the team to win.

“We definitely had to come back and make a statement,” Thomas said.

The day after their game the Hoosiers got on an airplane and flew four hours to the west coast. Despite the fatigue, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said her team had a good practice Thursday afternoon.

After practice the team went sightseeing in San Fransisco with activities including the Golden Gate Bridge, a visit to Lombard Street, Pier 39, and a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at their  hotel.

While many athletes are far from their homes, one athlete will be reunited with her family this weekend in California.

Senior forward Amber Jackson was born in Yokosuka, Japan, where her father was stationed in the U.S. Navy. Jackson’s mother and sister now live in California, only two hours away from where the team will be playing this weekend.

Jackson’s family will stay with the Hoosiers at their team hotel.

Jackson said this moment will be very special for her and her family as it will be the first time her mother has seen her play since she tranfered to IU from San Jose State after her sophomore year.

Legette-Jack said she is happy that Jackson can spend time with her family, something she said is important for her athletes, especially the seniors.

“We are going to take her out to Saint Mary’s and put her in front of her mom to let her know that we didn’t kidnap her or knock her down, and hurt her, we hopefully made her better,” Legette-Jack said.


Jackson said she and her teammates are excited to be in California and really want to do well.

“We are focused and determined to come out of here with two wins,” Jackson said.

If the Hoosiers beat Radford they will face the winner of the match between tournament host Saint Mary’s and La Salle in the tournament final which would take place Saturday night.

The Hoosiers will conclude their five-game road trip when they travel to Coral Gables, Fla., on Dec. 5 for the ACC/Big Ten Women’s Basketball Challenge, before returning to Asssembly Hall on Dec. 9 to take on Butler.