Hoosiers earn 1st Big Ten victory

Senior forward Aulani Sinclair sank 10 of 11 free throws in the last 5:47 as part of her game-high 31 points, leading IU (10-5, 1-1) to fend off  Northwestern (8-7, 0-2) 68-64 Sunday afternoon.

The win in Assembly Hall gave IU Coach Curt Miller his first conference victory as a Big Ten coach.

“Really gutty win,” Miller said. “I don’t think there’s an analyst or prognosticator that thought we could win a game in the Big Ten this year.

“That’s a big win for us in our (conference) home opener.”

Sinclair shot seven of 13 from the field and was three of 8 on 3-point attempts. She also went 14-of-15 from the line and scored 10 of the team’s final 13 points.

As for Sinclair’s secret to making clutch foul shots, she simply told herself, “Don’t miss.”

“Free throws are big for us ... and I knew down the stretch it would really matter and it was going to be a close game,” she said.

The Hoosiers finished 18 of 20 on free throw shots.

IU led 35-27 at halftime but let the Wildcats claw back several times thanks to nine second-half turnovers and questionable shot selection at times.

Northwestern took its first lead since getting the game’s first basket on a Lauren Douglas three that made it 44-43 Wildcats with 13:34 to go, capping a 17-8 run to start the second half.

IU countered with a 10-3 run between the 8:07 and 3:25 marks, retaking the lead, 60-51.

However, the Wildcats would not go quietly, using court pressure to create turnovers and cut into IU’s lead. Another Douglas three, this time with 1:38 left in the game, made it 62-60.

“I thought we lost our aggressiveness and we were playing not to lose instead of going for it to win,” Miller said. “We were tentative and going for reversals and never up the floor passes to kind of break the pressure.”

Senior guard Jasmine McGhee was fouled with 1:09 to go and hit both free throws to put IU up 66-62, but NU’s Dannielle Diamant answered on the other end with a layup.

On the ensuing possession, guard Andrea Newbauer gave the crowd of 2,322 a scare when she crossed the timeline but tossed it back to Jasmine McGhee, who wasn’t able to jump over half-court in time. The Hoosiers were called for the backcourt violation, giving the Wildcats the ball with 41 seconds remaining and IU clinging to a two-point lead.

Luckily for Newbauer, NU forward Kendall Hackney threw the ball away on the ensuing possession, Sinclair was fouled with eight seconds left and made both free throws, and the Hoosiers could finally celebrate. 

“There was relief that we didn’t give up that big lead but pure excitement for this team,” Miller said. “We’ve worked really hard to put ourselves in a position to be kind of the party crasher, be the underdog with nothing to lose because there’s not a lot of expectations.”

Miller has challenged his team to outhustle opponents all year, and it seemed to pay off against the Wildcats.

The game featured several wild scrums in which the ball changed hands multiple times while players dove on the floor in an attempt to secure possession. None were crazier than when IU came away with the ball and turned into a successful 3-on-1 fast break that made it a 54-48 lead with 6:15 remaining.

“Not all year have we won the 50-50 balls, and in close games those 50-50 balls make all the world of difference,” Miller said. “Tonight we seemed to get more 50-50 balls and some of those scrambles that could have gone either way.”

IU also received a boost off the bench from junior forward Simone Deloach. She scored eight points while grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds in 34 minutes, helping IU outrebound Northwestern 42-31, and 15 to 8 on the offensive glass.

Deloach’s performance could have hardly come at a better time. Senior center Sasha Chaplin sat out with a concussion and 6-foot-6 inches center Quaneisha McCurty transferred to Florida State in late December, leaving Miller with only three healthy post players.

Miller said he did not want to burn freshman Jocelyn Mousty’s redshirt by playing her, and that Deloach came up big on a day when starters Linda Rubene and Milika Taufa picked up three first-half fouls.

“I just kind of stepped up in my role,” Deloach said. “Of course we knew we were down a player but I feel like it was a team effort.”

Senior guard Jasmine McGhee added 14 points for the Hoosiers, playing after rolling an ankle about midway through the second half. 

“Tonight she played the Robin role of Aulani’s Batman and we need that,” Miller said. “She played bang up today, and that’s what seniors do. That’s what you hope senior leaders do.”