IU women's basketball wins 9th consecutive game

The IU women’s basketball team has started conference play in the Big Ten making a statement – they want to be on the map and recognized for their play.

After the Hoosiers 76-54 victory at home against last year’s co-Big Ten Champions the Iowa Hawkeyes it is going to be hard for anyone to ignore the team.

The Hoosiers (10-2, 3-0) won their ninth consecutive game and have now won their first three conference games for the first time since the 1997-98 season. The nine straight wins also tied a best for the team since the 1998-99 season.   

The Hoosiers opened the game on a 9-0 run behind seven points from junior guard Jamie Braun. Braun had lead the way with 19 total points in the game and said it was part of the plan to attack the basket early.

“We saw that we had a lot of openings that we could attack the basket,” Braun said.  “We knew that would open up things for our posts in the inside later in the game which it ended up doing.”

The Hoosiers played in front of 1,913 fans, the most that have shown up all season.

When only 506 fans came out for an earlier game against Xavier, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack expressed some disappointment. After her 101st victory against Iowa, she said she might have overstepped her bounds on the statement, and was glad to see so many in attendances.

“Its great that the number has tripled since that statement,” Legette-Jack said. “I hope they come out for all the right reasons. They come out because of the character we display off the court, they come out because what we do in the classroom, and they come out because they really like what they see on the basketball court.”

Senior Whitney Thomas did not disappoint the crowd as many came to support her. Thomas, a Bloomington native, entered the game needing nine points to become the 20th player in school history to record 1,000 points. Thomas got eight of them in the first half and only needed the first 15 seconds of the second half to pass the milestone.

“It’s definitely a great accomplishment, but it’s a team sport,” Thomas said. “I couldn’t have gotten there without my teammates. They really pushed me to go harder, and that how I got to where I am."

Thomas also added 10 rebounds for her league leading 27th double-double. With 82 more rebounds Thomas will become only the second player in school history to total 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

For the Hoosiers it was a team effort and one that they were very proud of.

“We want to go far and make a statement, put Indiana on the map,” Thomas said. “Everyone is in it and like Coach Jack said no one wants the credit we just want to win and do well as a team.”