The day before IU’s game against Wisconsin on Sunday, Brooks wasn’t sure if she’d be able to play at all.
She was sick during a 103-49 loss to Ohio State on Thursday and the flu-like symptoms she had weren’t going away.
But before the 2 p.m. tip, Brooks came in to talk to IU Coach Teri Moren. She looked the best she had in 48 hours, Moren said.
Brooks started the game on the bench, but finished with 11 points in 26 minutes, including 7-of-7 from the free-throw line in the Hoosiers’ 69-52 bounce-back win against the Badgers.
Moren said she knew if there was a way for her point guard to play, Brooks would find it.
“I designed a pretty intense practice (after Ohio State), and she wanted to be able to withstand it,” Moren said. “One thing about Larryn is she’s a competitor, and she wants to help her team win.”
In addition to Brooks’ sickness, sophomore guard Taylor Agler tweaked her ankle in practice Friday and was also kept out of the starting lineup.
Agler did not have the mobility she needed to contribute. She only played five minutes.
It was the first time all season the lineup has been shaken up. An already-young starting group got even younger. Freshman Jess Walter and sophomore guard Alexis Gassion got their first starts of the year.
Despite the changes, it was as if nothing was out of place.
Moren was proud of the way her young team responded to adversity, and how Gassion, who had 16 rebounds, and Walter, who scored 11 points, stepped up.
Freshman Tyra Buss took Brooks’ spot at point guard, something she said took little adjusting to after playing the position most of her life. But when Buss got in foul trouble — and eventually fouled out with 5:21 left in the game — Brooks was the one who had to step up.
“We don’t really have a lot of true point guards and, with me getting in foul trouble, Larryn really had to push through her sickness,” Buss said. “I’m really proud of her for playing good minutes today and playing hard.”
Buss, Brooks, Walter and freshman Amanda Cahill each finished with 11 points. Buss also had five assists.
Defensively, IU went back to playing more man-to-man than it has since Big Ten season started.
Moren said what’s been hurting most in the past few games is her team’s transition defense, which can become more difficult when it’s falling back into a zone.
The Hoosiers allowed 189 points in their last two games combined. They held Wisconsin to just 52 on Sunday.
But that wasn’t because of any plays or defenses that can be drawn up, Moren said. In the loss to Ohio State, she didn’t see the effort she wanted from her team.
Sunday, she did.
“We’re going to have some games where we fall short,” she said. “But it’s not going to be because we lack the effort, we lack the heart, we lack the determination or the fight that you have to have to win basketball games at this level.”
