Hoosiers travel to Michigan, look for 8th consecutive win

Allyssa DeHaan, a 6 foot 9 inch center, and the Michigan State Spartans stand in the way of the IU women’s basketball team winning their eighth consecutive game at 7 p.m. Monday in East Lansing, Mich.  

DeHaan, the freshman of the year last year in the Big Ten ranks third nationally with 3.8 blocks per game. In 2006, DeHaan tied a conference record with 9 blocks in a game against the Hoosiers.  

Despite the presence of DeHaan, who is averaging nearly 10 points and more than six rebounds a game to go along with the blocks, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she is not worried.  

“We have Amber Jackson,” Legette-Jack said.

Legette-Jack also has four other players in her starting lineup to go along with Jackson who routinely score in double figures.

The Spartans (8-4, 1-0) will likely be in the mix for the conference championship this year after finishing runner-up in the WNIT last season. In 2005, the Spartans finished runner-up in the NCAA tournament.   

Last year having lost eight straight games to the Spartans the Hoosiers (8-2, 1-0) went into the Breslin Center in East Lansing and in front of more than 10,000 fans took down the Spartans 70-56. Jackson led the way with 21 points and all four other starters scored in double digits.

Michigan State leads the all-time series 35-22 against IU.  

In addition to putting their seven game winning streak on the line in their first road contest of conference play the Hoosiers will look for two milestones.  

With a win against the Spartans, Legette-Jack will reach her 100th career victory in her seventh season. Prior to coming to IU Legette-Jack spent four years at Hofstra.  

Senior Whitney Thomas, an All-American candidate and Bloomington native is only 16 points shy of 1,000 for her Hoosier career. Thomas is also only 105 rebounds short of 1,000 for her career. If Thomas gets to the 1,000 mark in points and rebounds she would be only the second IU player in history to achieve the feat.  

Denise Jackson (1981-84) holds the Big Ten record with 1,273 rebounds for her career and also totaled 1,917 points.  

The game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM as well as streamed on the Big Ten Network Web site.