IU women's basketball returns home Sunday to Assembly Hall for a 2 p.m. game against Minnesota in need of a win.
After starting the season 14-0, the Hoosiers have dropped their last three Big Ten games. Most recently, IU was blown out by rival Purdue on Friday 86-53 in West Lafayette.
If IU (14-3, 1-3) is going to beat Minnesota, the Hoosiers are going to need to shoot better from the floor. In its three game losing streak, IU has shot a combined 58-197 (29.4 percent) from the field. That percentage is well below IU's 42.4 percent shooting percentage for the entire season.
"We certainly got to make shots that are capable of being made," IU Coach Curt Miller said after Friday's loss to Purdue. "They're not happening right now. We're not shooting a good percentage in Big Ten."
Minnesota (12-6, 1-3) is coming off of a five point overtime loss to No. 18 Nebraska on Thursday. The Gophers lost a second half lead when Nebraska went on a 18-6 run in the closing minutes of regulation.
Junior guard Rachel Banham scored 33 points in the loss. Benham was named to the John R Wooden Award Women's Midseason Top 20, as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Saturday. The Wooden Award is given to the nation's best player each season.
Benham leads the Big Ten in scoring and ranks 14th nationally with a 22.5 points per game average. She is dangerous from behind the arc. She is eighth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage. Along with that, she ranks in the top-10 in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.864), 3-point field goals made (2.9) and assist turnover ratio (1.7).
Containing the 5-foot-9 Benham is going to be a tough task for IU. But if the offense continues to struggle as it has in the last few games, IU will be relying on a strong defensive performance to keep the team from dropping a fourth consecutive game.
At halftime, members from the 1971-1974 women's basketball teams will be honored with an AIAW Final Four banner being raised to the rafters of Assembly Hall. Roughly 25 former players and coaches are expected to be in attendance.
