FINAL: IU 71 , PSU 77
The Hoosiers, who played without RS freshman Sasha Chaplin, went 4 of 13 from the floor in the OT period. Fouls were the story of the game, with IU committing 21 fouls. Penn State committed 11 fouls. Every Hoosier had at least 2 fouls, and both Jori Davis and Aulani Sinclair fouled out.
The Hoosiers, who normally have a sound performance from their bench, only had 9 bench points against Penn State. The Lady Lions had 19 points from their bench. However, the Hoosiers played with only 8 available players, while PSU had 12 available players. With Chaplin sitting out with a foot injury, freshman Jasmine Davis out with injury, Lindsay Enterline with a season-ending injury, and with freshman guard Sasha Bernard leaving the team, the Hoosiers are low on reserves.
Four Hoosiers were in double figures with Jori Davis leading the Hoosiers in scoring with 25 points. Hope Elam had 13, and both Jamie Braun and Whitney Lindsay has 12 points.
Check the Monday edition of the IDS for a full wrap of the game.
UPDATE: IU 62, PSU 62
The Lady Lions missed a last second shot, sending the game into overtime.
PREGAME:
The IU women's basketball team will attempt to win for only the third time at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Arena in their fifth conference matchup of the season. Penn State is 13-2 all-time against the Hoosiers at home, with the Hoosiers' only wins occurring in 2006 and during last season's matchup. Penn State leads the complete series 24-8, but the Hoosiers have won 5 of the last 6 games.
Although both teams are coming off wins, Penn State will follow up a season best shooting performance. The Lady Lions* shot 56.4% from the floor in their 88-68 victory over Northwestern on January 3, their highest since boasting a 58.8% shooting percentage in a 2003 matchup against Maryland.
While the Lady Lions are coming off stellar performance, they will still have to face 4 of the Big Ten's top 25 scorers, including Junior guard Jori Davis who is ranked fourth with 17.2 points per game. Davis scores even more in conference games, averaging 18.3 points per game. On the season, Davis has scored 20 or more points five times this season. Davis also has the fourth highest 3-point field goal percentage, at 47.2%. But, while Davis might be one of the best 3-point shooters in the Big Ten, she isn't even the most accurate on the team, with freshman forward Aulani Sinclair shooting 48.4% from the arc. Sinclair is ranked second in the Big Ten on the season, but has shot better in conference games, hitting 53.% of her threes against Big Ten opponents. Currently, Sinclair's season average is the second highest all-time for the Hoosiers, falling short of Jill Hartman's 2001 3-point percentage of 62.5%.
Senior guard Jamie Braun might not be hitting over half of her three-pointers, but she is steadily moving up the all-time records list in her final season with the Hoosiers. Braun has 334 career assists, and needs 7 more to move into 7th place, and 13 more to move into 6th place. Her 199 career steals put her in 5th place, only 11 steals out of 4th place. Braun is currently ranked 11th in career points, and only needs 36 points to join the top ten.
The Hoosiers are hitting the bulk of their Big Ten schedule, with 7 conference games in the next 21 days. The women, fight the Lady Lions today, and then play both Michigan and Ohio State twice, followed by two home battles against Northwestern and Wisconsin.
*Normally Penn State's athletic teams are referred to as "Nittany Lions, " but not the women's basketball team. The women, the only team to not use Nittany, use the title "Lady Lions" instead.
