Hey folks, Buckey and I are live at Assembly Hall for the first Bloomington installment of the Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge. They've been doing this for a few years on the men's side, and they decided this year to start doing it with women's basketball. The Hoosiers face Florida State tonight, a tall order considering the Seminoles start three players at 6-foot-1 or higher.
Compounding that, we just got a press release from Shana Daniels, assistant media relations director in charge of the women's basketball team, just handed us a press release that reads the following:
"Indiana Head Women's Basketball Coach Felisha Legette-Jack has announced that junior guard Kim Roberson has taken a leave of absence from the women's basketball team for personal reasons, effective immediately. Coach Jack will have no further comment on the matter."
Roberson had been averaging 7.8 points per game, starting three of the five she appeared in. Roberson struggled with injuries early in the season, and had been sharing her starting spot with freshman guard/forward Jori Davis, among others. She recently tied an IU single-game record withe nine steals against Wake Forest in the Hoosiers trip to the Virgin Islands over Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see how an already young and suddenly much younger team handles this setback. There about ready for starting lineups, so I'll be back with our first game update in just a bit.
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Starting lineups are as follows IU Amber Jackson Jori Davis Whitney Thomas Jamie Braun Nikki Smith
Florida State
Angel Gray Tanae Davis-Cain Jacinta Monroe Mara Freshour (a Nashville, Ind., native who has a large cheering section here tonight) Courtney Ward
**This means FSU will only be starting two players over 6-foot-1, let's see if this has an early effect on the game.
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19:30 IU 2 - FSU 0 IU wins the tip and gets a foul called on Davis-Cain quickly. Whitney Thomas puts home a layup.
18:20 IU 5 - FSU 3 IU's passing has been crisp early, and they're moving the ball well. Nikki Smith hit a 3-pointer off a good cross-court feed from Thomas.
17:10 IU 7 - FSU 3 Cayla Moore checks in for Jacinta Moore, switching one big for another. FSU doesn't seem interested in playing to their height advantage just yet.
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15:56 IU 9 - FSU 5 TV timeout. Amber Jackson just picked up foul No. 2, and coach Jack is not happy. I couldn't really tell what the call was, but freshman Georgia Follmer will be checking in for Jackson, IU's leading rebounder. This would again seem to help the 'Noles, considering their height advantage. IU is playing zone, possibly to negate just that. Buckey just pointed out to me that Thomas now also has two fouls. IU is down two starting forwards five minutes into the first half.
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14:48 IU 13 - FSU 7 Jamie Braun hits a pair of free throws as FSU rotates Moore and Monroe again. The Hoosiers now have Follmer and Whitney Lindsay in there in place of Thomas and Jackson, and coach Jack is having words with the officials again. She might not like what she's seeing down low.
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12:23 FSU 14 - IU 13 Freshour hits a 2-pointer that gives the Seminoles their first lead of the night. The Hoosiers are small and young now, as Haylie Linn and Amber Jackson have both just checked in. Four freshmen and Braun are currently on the floor.
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FSU 14 - IU 13 TV timeout The whistles have come early and often tonight. IU and FSU have a combined nine fouls, and FSU is one away from the bonus. Both teams are moving the ball well, and IU is holding their own on the boards so far.
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10:00 IU 21 - FSU 18 The young lineup is working as Haylie Linn seems to have found a hot spot from the corner with two straight threes. FSU counters with a corner three of their own and a 30-second timeout.
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IU 23 - FSU 21 Two quick steals yielded two fast breaks, and Whitney Lindsay hit one layup before missing another. IU just looks quicker than the Seminoles right now.
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7:26 TV timeout IU 25 - FSU 23 IU is young and fast on the floor right now. Their mixing drives and outside shots well. They're outrebounding a taller Florida State team and making the extra pass, leading to several open looks. A couple of quick shots and a botched 3-on-1 break are all that stand between the Hoosiers and an even better score.
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5: 14 IU 27 - FSU 27 IU is a bit cold from the field all the sudden, but Jori Davis gets the hometown bounce on a nice turnaround jumper for two points. The 'Noles are starting to hit the boards harder, and Davis just picked up her second foul too.
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2:59 Timeout FSU IU 37 - FSU 28 IU is on a 10-1 run keyed by good passing and two deep threes by Amber Jackson. On her first, both Thomas and Jackson - on the bench with two fouls apiece for most of the half - were on their feet cheering loudly. The freshmen are impressing right now. They're more than holding their own against a taller, more experienced Florida State team that isn't in nearly as much foul trouble. Georgia Follmer just picked up her second foul, and we're at the last TV timeout of the half. So far, IU's youth and energy have been the difference. Jamie Braun is approaching a double-double in the first half, and she's crashing the boards like a forward, not a point guard. She has six points and eight boards to go along with three assists.
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2:10 IU 37 - FSU 32 Freshour takes a nice backdoor cut and hits a reverse layup to cut into the lead. But Braun comes back with a layup to answer. She has eight points.
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39.6 sec. IU 41 - FSU 32 Loose ball foul on Amber Jackson puts FSU in the double bonus as FSU cuts into the lead by a free throw. IU takes a 30-second timeout.
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Halftime IU 41 - FSU 37 The Seminoles hit a 3-pointer as time expired off an open look at the top of the key on an inbounds pass. The teams head to the locker room with momentum suddenly point the way of the Seminoles. Nevertheless, IU is outrebounding Florida State, and a lineup comprised mostly of freshmen is holding off the No. 21 team in the country despite committing 11 fouls while only being on the receiving end of four. Jamie Braun led the Hoosiers with 10 points and was within spitting distance of a double-double in one half. She's also dished out several assists, filling up the stat sheet. Second half to come in about 11 minutes.
