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(02/17/12 5:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The number 13 has never been particularly lucky, and neither has the IU women’s basketball team in Big Ten play this season.After falling to No. 9 Ohio State (22-3, 10-3 Big Ten) in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday night 75-54, IU’s (5-21, 0-13) losing streak hit unlucky number 13 with only three games remaining in the season.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack didn’t make any excuses for the loss.“What went wrong was that the No. 9 team in the country showed up,” she said. “This is a team that knows how to win and that has a history of winning. We’re a team that’s really trying to figure out what winning feels like.”The main difference in the game was shooting. While the Buckeyes connected on 55.2 percent of their shots and 46.7 percent from behind the 3-point line, IU could only muster a 28.8 percent shooting performance. The Hoosiers were more successful from behind the arc, hitting 30.8 percent from deep.Ohio State was also able to out-rebound the Hoosiers by a margin of 47-28.The bright spots for IU came from junior forward Aulani Sinclair and freshman center Quaneisha McCurty.In a forgettable shooting night for IU, Sinclair was able to hit nine of her 17 shots, including 4-of-8 from long range, and scored 23 points. She also added three rebounds and one block. She scored in double digits for the 15th time this season.McCurty achieved a double-double on the night, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while adding two steals. The double-double was her first in conference play and the third of the season.Leading the way for the Buckeyes was junior guard Tayler Hill. She recorded a game-high 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 7-of-8 3-pointers. She also grabbed seven rebounds, dished four assists, stole the ball four times and rejected two shots.Legette-Jack said she knows her team will continue to learn from their losses.“We’re going to continue to get better,” she said. “Hats off to the best team tonight, which was Ohio State.”IU will try to end its losing streak against Michigan Sunday in Assembly Hall. Tip-off is set for noon.
(02/17/12 5:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team will look to avenge its loss from earlier in the year when it battles the Michigan Wolverines at noon Sunday in Assembly Hall.The Hoosiers (5-20, 0-12) fell to Michigan (18-7, 7-5) on Jan. 22 in the first matchup of the year between the two schools, 66-48.IU will also try to get its first Big Ten victory of the year against one of its next two unranked opponents awaiting during the remainder of the season. After Michigan, the Hoosiers play Wisconsin on Feb. 23 at home before traveling to No. 19 Purdue for what could be a difficult victory.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she likes her team’s chances the second time around.“I’m excited because it gives our team a chance to get out there again with somebody that they’ve already experienced before,” she said. “The second time, it’s not so frightening. I know what they can do. At the end of the day, you’ve got to have a game plan, but I think our kids are more prepared to go up against them a second time because they’re so young.”Legette-Jack said junior Aulani Sinclair and senior Danilsa Andujar are the only two players on her squad who are familiar with every Big Ten team, given the youth and inexperience on her roster.Another key to victory for the Hoosiers will be rebounding, Legette-Jack said. In their closest loss of Big Ten play, the Hoosiers out-rebounded Illinois by 15 and only lost by one point. In their last two wins before conference play began, they won the battle of the boards in both matches.“It’s who I am,” Legette-Jack said of rebounding. “I look at the things that I’ve done in my history as a player, and that’s how I think that we’ve got opportunities because of the rebounding situation. I think a really significant piece of the game is the opportunity to get in there and do the grunt work.”Legette-Jack said in order to keep up its rebounding, IU will need to get bigger contributions from the guards. Junior guard Jasmine McGhee is second on the team in rebounding with 145 in the season, but the next-closest guard is sophomore Andrea Newbauer with 56.“I think that the best rebounder, particularly when you play a matchup, is supposed to be a guard,” Legette-Jack said. “The post is supposed to hold them off, and the guard comes in uncontested and gets in there to do some things. We need Candyce (Ussery) and Newbauer to jump in there as well.”McGhee also leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game.The Hoosiers will try to shut down Michigan junior Rachel Sheffer and senior Courtney Boylan, who average 13.3 and 13.1 points per contest and scored 16 and 15 points against the Hoosiers in their previous match-up, respectively.Although Legette-Jack said IU’s loss to Illinois on Sunday was heartbreaking, she said she continues to see the glass as half full.“It makes it great,” she said. “We got excited about it. We realize that if we play a whole 40-minute game, there’s a possibility greatness can come for us, too.”
(02/03/12 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team’s losing streak has now hit double digits.The Hoosiers (5-18, 0-10 Big Ten) lost at Penn State (17-5, 7-3) Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center 76-44 to bring their losing skid to 10 games, which serves as the longest of IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack’s tenure in Bloomington.Senior forward Danilsa Andujar made one of two free throws two minutes into the game to make the score 5-4 and give IU its first lead, but it would also be the last.Penn State scored 13 consecutive points during the next 3:48 to take a 17-5 lead.IU would bring back the deficit within five with nine minutes remaining in the first half, but Penn State went on a 24-10 run leading into halftime.The Lady Lions picked up right where they left off in the second half, outscoring IU 34-21 in the final period.Penn State dominated the game in the shooting category. They shot 42.6 percent from the floor, 70 percent from the free-throw line and hit four of the seven 3-point attempts.IU, meanwhile, shot 27.6 percent on field goals, 60 percent on free throws and missed all six 3-point shots.The bright spot for the Hoosiers after this game is that they now come home to play four of their final six games in Assembly Hall. They played six of their last nine games on the road.Leading the way for IU was junior center Sasha Chaplin and sophomore forward Milika Taufa. Chaplin came two points short of achieving her fourth double-double of the season. She scored eight points and grabbed a career-high and game-high 16 rebounds while adding one assist and two steals to her stat line. Chaplin has recorded at least 10 rebounds for four consecutive games and six times total this season.Taufa led the team in scoring for the first time in her career, notching nine points off of three field goals and three free throws from the bench. She also grabbed five rebounds.Junior forward Aulani Sinclair also contributed by scoring eight points and seizing seven rebounds. She connected on both of her free-throw attempts, bringing her free-throw percentage in Big Ten games to a conference-best 96 percent.Sinclair was unable to make any 3-pointers in this contest, ending her four game streak of hitting at least three from long range. Her eight points ended her other four game streak of scoring in double digits.Pacing Penn State was sophomore Maggie Lucas. She produced 24 points and two rebounds, assists, steals and blocks each. She added four 3-pointers and shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.IU will play Iowa at home to try to end its losing streak and secure the first conference win of the season. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Sunday in Assembly Hall.
(02/03/12 2:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team will attempt to end two separate streaks Sunday when Iowa comes to Assembly Hall.First and foremost, IU (5-18, 0-10 Big Ten) will try to end its 10-game losing streak. The streak started after the Hoosiers won back-to-back games against Colorado State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Since then, they have played 10 Big Ten games against nine separate foes and lost to all of them.The other streak IU will try to break is its five-game losing skid to Iowa (12-10, 4-5) since Jan. 4 2009, the last time the Hoosiers beat the Hawkeyes. Indiana has lost to Iowa 12 times throughout the past 15 matchups between the two schools, dating back to the 2003-04 season.Coming off a loss at Northwestern on Sunday, IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said her team can learn and grow from the disappointment.“We haven’t won a lot of games, but these guys are doing the best they can,” she said. “Sasha (Chaplin) showed her ability to score against a strong post presence versus Northwestern. I thought that Jasmine (McGhee)’s impact was a lot better ... Turnovers were at a minimum.”Legette-Jack also said she hopes her squad can keep decreasing its turnovers. In the four games leading up to and including the Northwestern game, the team’s turnovers went from 25 to 21 to 19 to 16 to 15.Two of the biggest differences between the two teams is experience and consistency.Through its 23 games so far, Iowa has started the same five players for every contest: seniors Kamille Wahlin and Kelly Krei, juniors Jaime Printy and Morgan Johnson and freshman Samantha Logic. The Hawkeyes have four seniors and three juniors on their squad.Through their 23 games, the Hoosiers have used nine different starting lineups. Their most used group has been employed only eight times and consists of senior Danilsa Andujar, juniors Chaplin, McGhee and Aulani Sinclair and sophomore Andrea Newbauer.Andujar, Chaplin and Sinclair are the only three players for the Hoosiers who had been in Bloomington for at least two full seasons before the 2011-12 campaign began.Legette-Jack said the more recently settled starting lineup of the five mentioned above was decided by their performance in practice.“They settled in on it,” she said. “I think the people that earn the right to start should be the people that start ... Those five people made that effort in practice to prove that they were the ones supposed to start the game.”Iowa’s junior duo of Printy and Johnson will keep IU’s hands full. Printy leads the team in scoring with 17.3 per game, and her 90.2 free throw percentage ranks eighth nationally.Johnson is second on the team with 14.1 points per game. Her 54.6 field goal percentage and 2.3 blocks per game rank 18th and 35th in the nation, respectively.The possibility of extending a losing streak to 10 could concern most coaches, but Legette-Jack said she isn’t worrying just yet.“I’m confident in all my kids,” she said.
(01/27/12 5:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team was unable to pull off the upset Thursday in Assembly Hall, losing to the ninth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 73-55.The Hoosiers’ record fell to 5-16 on the season and 0-8 in Big Ten play. Ohio State improved to 20-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.IU took the lead early on a 3-pointer from junior forward Aulani Sinclair to make it a 3-2 game. They kept the lead all the way through the first half and extended the margin to eight with 5:35 left in the first half. A 21-4 run for Ohio State to start the first seven minutes of the second half gave them a 46-30 lead, and the Buckeyes never looked back.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said the main difference between the two halves came from Ohio State.“They put a lot more pressure on us, and we went the speed that they wanted to go,” Legette-Jack said. “I thought that our team played well for a good 30 minutes out there.”She also said a lack of focus was a factor in the loss.“We had a lot of mental lapses,” she said. “Our free throws really killed us, and our second-chance points didn’t do us justice. I thought we missed way too many layups.”Leading the way for IU was Sinclair. She scored a career-high 27 points off of 5-7 shooting from the 3-point line and a perfect 4-4 for free throws while playing all 40 minutes. She also notched six rebounds and two steals.Sinclair deflected the praise of her scoring to junior teammate Jasmine McGhee.“Jasmine McGhee helped me out a lot because she’s a great driver for us,” she said. “When she drove to the basket they had to come over to stop her ... when they came over to guard her, it was just an easy shot for me, wide open.”Besides setting up Sinclair, McGhee contributed in other ways. She scored nine points for the Hoosiers while grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds. She also contributed three assists, two blocks and one steal.Sinclair said although she was a scorer Thursday, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make the team better.“I’m just trying to do whatever we need for us as a team to win,” she said. “If that means scoring, it means scoring. If it means rebounding, I’m going to get in there and rebound. So I’m just going to do whatever Coach tells me to do.”Setting the pace for Ohio State was senior guard Samantha Prahalis. Coming off a Big Ten Player of the Week award, she scored 18 points and recorded nine assists, one block and three steals.Legette-Jack said games like this will serve as a learning curve for her young team.“We’re learning the lessons,” she said. “They’re tough lessons, but we’re learning them.”
(01/26/12 3:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The women’s basketball team is looking to do Thursday what the men’s team did on New Year’s Eve: knock off a highly ranked Ohio State squad in Assembly Hall.Such an upset would be the Hoosiers’ first Big Ten victory of the season, as they are 0-7 in conference play and 5-15 overall.The Buckeyes, meanwhile, sit on the other end of the Big Ten spectrum. Their No. 9 ranking and overall record of 19-1 are both conference bests. Ohio State last came to Bloomington on Jan. 31, 2010. The Buckeyes were ranked sixth in the nation, but IU was able to knock them off in a close contest, 67-62.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she thinks a win this year would be an even tougher task.“They’re a better team now than they were back then, in my opinion, even though they’re ranked ninth now,” she said. “They play with a lot more fire. They’ve got more weapons.” IU will be playing behind the offense of junior guard Jasmine McGhee and junior forward Aulani Sinclair.McGhee leads the team in scoring with an average of 13.2 per game. She has scored in double figures 11 times this year.Sinclair is the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.5 points per contest. Before her 0-1 performance from the free-throw line at Michigan on Sunday, she had made 19 consecutive free throws, dating back to Dec. 21 against Pittsburgh. Ohio State has a duo of guards that is one of the best in the nation — senior Samantha Prahalis and junior Tayler Hill. The two have combined to win four Big Ten player of the week awards so far.Hill’s and Prahalis’ scoring averages of 21.6 and 18.7 rank 10th and 30th nationally, respectively. Sophomore guard Andrea Newbauer will be one of the Hoosiers responsible for slowing the duo down.“We just have to contain them on defense,” she said. “We can’t let them get out and run on us in transition. Despite the intimidation that IU will face, Newbauer said she remains positive about their chances.“Definitely it’s going to be a challenge, but we can handle it,” she said.
(01/25/12 5:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“It’s great to have her back for longer than half a semester,” IU women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack said before laughing.Her sense of humor is clear, but the entire team knows just how true the statement is.After missing 61 games in her first three years at IU due to injury, junior center Sasha Chaplin is back and stronger than ever. She has played, in all, 20 regular season games this year, and started in 14 of them.The 6-foot-4 center began the 2008-09 season with promise. As a true freshman, she served a team that would eventually go 21-11 as a solid bench player. She averaged 4.9 points, four rebounds and 1.1 steals per game on 73.1 percent shooting in only 12.9 minutes per game. During her eighth game, however, she hurt her knee, forcing her to sit out the remainder of the season. She was able to attain a redshirt after the season, extending her collegiate career by one year.Chaplin took a step forward in the 2009-10 season, playing in 20 out of 30 games and starting 16 times. Her production also increased as she averaged 9.3 points and seven rebounds per contest.In 2011, Chaplin faced another setback. She was unable to play in the first 10 games due to a toe injury and hurt her other knee in only her second game back. She was forced to shut down the rest of her sophomore season.Because of these nagging injuries, Chaplin had only participated in eight Big Ten games before this year.“I’m not used to playing during this time of the year,” Chaplin said. “It’s weird to say, but in my past three years I’ve never made it past the halfway mark of the season. “We’re into Big Ten play, and I haven’t quite played any of these teams in the Big Ten. It’s exciting, and I’m just embracing it more and trying to help the team get wins.”She has indeed helped. Through IU’s 20 games so far, Chaplin is first on the team in rebounds, second in blocks, free throw percentage and field goal percentage and third in steals.In addition to her on-the-court performance, Chaplin has stepped up to help lead a young and inexperienced IU team after its senior captain, Georgie Jones, went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament only six games into this season.Chaplin said she has tried to strike a balance between her on- and off-court leadership.“Off the court, you see a different aspect of the game, so you’re pointing out to the players that are currently playing,” she said. “When you’re out there on the court, it’s more seeing everything but also doing what you preach. You can’t just say something out there on the court and not do what you say because it’s kind of contradicting yourself. “It’s been a task at times, but I know if I go out there with overall effort and show I’m playing my hardest, I know my teammates will follow.”Chaplin said she has also disregarded any fear of re-aggravating her injuries. Instead of holding back, she’s going all out as if nothing ever happened.“At this point, it’s kind of like, just go out there and play,” she said. “I know that injuries happen all the time. I’ve done everything in the post season and offseason to help prevent that. That’s doing very well for me right now. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, but if not I’m not thinking about it.”Although the team is 5-15 on the season, Chaplin said she is enjoying and just happy to be back on the court.“It’s been fun to say the least,” she said with a smile.
(01/20/12 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana women’s basketball team was unable to secure its first Big Ten win of the season Thursday night, falling to rival Purdue by a score of 82-60.IU is now 5-14 on the season and 0-6 in conference play.Purdue improved to 16-3 overall and remains the lone Big Ten team to be undefeated in the conference with a record of 6-0.“I thought we came out with a great game plan,” IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “I thought we came out with a fire. I thought we solidified the fact that we can shoot the ball. That’s one thing that we’ve gotten better at. Offensive rebounds have to be the next thing that we get better at.”IU was outrebounded 22-12 on the offensive end and 49-29 for the entire game.Although they shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the first half, they struggled in the second stanza, connecting on only seven of 30 shots. They ended up shooting 37 percent for the night.Despite the final score, Legette-Jack said she was satisfied with the intensity her team brought to the floor.“This is the fire I want our team to play with all the time,” she said. “Every time we play somebody it has to be Purdue. I like the in-state rivalry but that fire should never change. I think that our kids understand now what that all means.”Leading the way for the Hoosiers was junior forward Aulani Sinclair. She connected for four threes on the night and shot a perfect 6-6 from the line. In addition to her 20 points, she notched six rebounds, one block, and one steal.She preferred to give credit elsewhere for her scoring.“I can give a lot of credit to my post bigs, Danilsa (Andujar) and Sasha (Chaplin) ducking in,” she said. “That drew a lot of attention for them so it opened us up on the wings, and then our transition got us a lot of threes.”The leading scorer for Purdue came off the bench. Senior forward Antionette Howard also scored 20 points while leading the team in rebounds with eight. She also produced four steals, one assist and one block.Purdue had five players score 10 or more points, providing a well-balanced attack that IU couldn’t fully stop.“You know you pick your poison,” Legette-Jack said. “We certainly thought (Brittany) Rayburn was the kid that we’d have to be cognitive of, as well as (Courtney) Moses and KK (Houser). I thought we did a pretty good job against them, but when you’ve got another senior to come over there and give them 20 points, we didn’t bank on that.”Despite being disappointed in falling short of a victory against their rival, Legette-Jack saw the bright side to the loss.“Lesson’s learned,” she said. “And I think we will continue to grow.”
(01/20/12 3:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team is traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sunday to take on the Wolverines at the Crisler Center. The battle is set to begin at 2 p.m.This will be the first of three road trips for the Hoosiers in their next four matchups before playing at home four times in their final six games.An overall record of 5-14 and conference record of 0-6 puts the Hoosiers at the bottom of the Big Ten, but they said they hope to overcome early season woes and start climbing up the conference ladder with some wins.“We just want to get a win,” IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We’re practicing hard. We’ve got focused players. We’re passionate about what we’re trying to do, and we want to see that success come our way as well.”Michigan currently sits in the middle of the Big Ten with a 4-2 conference record. They are 15-4 overall.Although the Wolverines have not been ranked in the top 25 all year, they have received votes for the rankings in at least one of the polls for nine straight weeks.IU will focus most of its defensive attention on Michigan’s senior guard Courtney Boylan. She leads the team with 13.1 points per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 82.5 percent from the free throw line. She also won the Big Ten Player of the Week award after week one of this season.“We know that somebody of her caliber is going to get hers, if you will,” Legette-Jack said. “Our hope is to contain her but also try to stop the other four.”IU’s leading scorer so far this year is junior guard Jasmine McGhee. She is also scoring 13.1 points per contest but at a lower shooting rate: 35.7 percent from the floor and 67.2 percent from the charity stripe.With such a young and inexperienced team, the Hoosiers are still looking for a consistent lineup to use for the remainder of the season. Because of injuries and inconsistent play, IU has now used nine different starting lineups. Their most frequently employed one has only been used four times.“We’re a young team. You don’t know what to expect,” Legette-Jack said. Sunday’s lineup will consist of Aulani Sinclair, Jasmine McGhee, Andrea Newbauer, Sasha Chaplain and Danilsa Andujar, Legette-Jack said.“We think that’s a pretty good lineup — a lot more seasoned lineup — although Jasmine hasn’t been here getting a lot of playing time,” she said, “and Sasha obviously didn’t play at all last year, but that’s a more veteran group for us.”“We’re going to do what we do. I’m going to play my kids,” she said. “They’re going to play theirs. We’re not changing our lineups because of anything the other team brings us. We’re changing our lineups to see what works for us.”Although her young team is going through growing pains, Legette-Jack let it be known they aren’t backing down from any challenge that might present itself.“We’re going to respect everybody, and we’re going to fear no one.”
(01/19/12 4:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In its biggest game of the year, the IU women’s basketball team is looking to end its five-game losing streak.The No. 13/18 Purdue Boilermakers are coming to Bloomington on Thursday night for the first of two matchups in 2012 between the arch-rivals. The two teams are set to play at 8 p.m. in Assembly Hall.IU currently ranks last in the Big Ten in both overall and conference records with marks of 5-13 and 0-5.Purdue, meanwhile, is on an eight-game winning streak that puts it on top of the Big Ten with a perfect 5-0 record. Its 15-3 record for the season is third-best in the conference behind Ohio State and Nebraska.In addition to breaking this losing streak, a win for IU would break its dry streak against Purdue. The Hoosiers have only beaten Purdue three times in their last 19 meetings and have dropped four straight games to the Boilermakers.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she knows this will be one of the team’s toughest matchups of the year.“Purdue’s one of the best teams in our conference right now,” she said. “To me, they’re a team that can easily be a Sweet Sixteen team or Elite Eight for that matter. They play very stingy defense. We’ve got our hands full, but that’s the beauty of this basketball game. You don’t play just to play in it. You play the best, and the best is in this state of Indiana, and here comes Purdue.”The battle between the two schools should be a low-scoring one. Purdue ranks 10th out of 12 in scoring offense in the Big Ten, while IU ranks 11th. Purdue also ranks first in the conference in fewest points allowed and blocks and is tied for first in steals. IU is tied for fourth in blocked shots.A large amount of those blocked shots comes from freshman center Quaneisha McCurty, who has 26 on the season and averaged three per contest during the past seven games.IU will look to slow down Purdue’s Brittany Rayburn.“How do you stop her?” Legette-Jack said in response to defending the senior guard. “She could vie for player of the year.” The senior guard was named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week on Tuesday for her performances against Minnesota and Iowa on Thursday and Sunday. Rayburn averaged 26 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and one block between the two games while shooting just less than 62 percent from the 3-point line. Against Minnesota, she tied an NCAA record and broke the Big Ten mark for threes in one game with 12. Against Iowa, she scored two free throws to give Purdue the lead with 17.5 seconds left and blocked the potential game-winning basket as time expired.Junior forward Sasha Chaplin knows what it would mean for the Hoosiers to get their first Big Ten win against Purdue.“I think we’re all pumped up for this game just knowing that this is one of the biggest games of the season,” she said. “Regardless of the situation, we’re going to try to come out hard and play to the best of our abilities and just try to own the state.”
(01/09/12 4:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 17-3 run just wasn’t enough.After trailing by 17 points to Northwestern with just more than nine minutes remaining in its second Big Ten home game of the year, the IU women’s basketball team went on a surge for the next eight minutes of play to close the gap to three points. The team was unable to finish the comeback, however, and fell to the Wildcats 69-61.The run began on two free throws by junior forward Aulani Sinclair after a technical was called on Northwestern’s junior guard Tailor Jones for unsportsmanlike conduct. She and her teammates were celebrating after their junior forward Kendall Hackney blocked IU’s junior guard Jasmine McGhee on a layup attempt.The technical seemed to spark the run for the Hoosiers, but IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack thought otherwise.“It lit a fire for (Northwestern),” she said. “No technical should get your team pumped up. What should get your team pumped up is that they put on that Indiana uniform every year. It’s the 25th anniversary of the last national championship. You’ve got to know the history behind this University. You’ve got to smack the floor, and you’ve got to want to play because you’ve got Indiana on your chest.”The loss for IU now puts it at a four-game losing streak since beginning Big Ten play. In addition to its 0-4 conference record, the team is now 5-12 on the season.Northwestern ended its own three-game losing streak by earning its first Big Ten victory. The Wildcats are now 1-2 in conference play and 11-5 overall.McGhee began the game shooting 5-7 and led the Hoosiers with 10 points at the half, but the second half was a different story. She connected on only two of her final 12 attempts and didn’t make it to the free throw line for the whole game. Despite her shooting troubles, she remained in the game because of her willingness to get everyone else involved.“I think that I had the right mindset, but the shots weren’t falling properly,” she said. “I was just trying to look for my other teammates, and we scored here and there.”The leading scorer for IU was Sinclair. She tallied 17 total points with the help of her perfect 6-6 free throw shooting and three 3-pointers. One of her 3’s was key to the late run, which cut Northwestern’s lead to five and got the crowd chanting “De-fense” on the other side of the court.When asked whether she was discouraged from being down 17 or encouraged by the fight back, Legette-Jack didn’t hesitate to answer.“Discouraged,” she responded. “Us continuing to put ourselves in that kind of situation is not necessary. Getting down by 17 to this team was not warranted. This is our home. We had 3,000 fans watching us. The fight came late, and the fans got involved, but then they realized they missed an opportunity. It’s a young team that’s going to continue learning lessons, but I think everyone’s a little tired of learning those lessons through defeat.”IU will next travel to East Lansing, Mich., to take on the Michigan State Spartans. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
(01/06/12 5:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In its first meeting as fellow Big Ten opponents, the Indiana women’s basketball team fell to No. 19 Nebraska on Thursday night 62-48.The loss for IU gives it a three-game losing streak to begin Big Ten play and drops its overall record to 5-11. Its 11 losses tie the team with Wisconsin for the most in the conference.Nebraska, meanwhile, remains perfect in its inaugural Big Ten season with a 2-0 conference record. Its 13-1 mark for the entire season ranks second in the conference to undefeated Ohio State.The Hoosiers led by as many as 10 points in the first half and led the Cornhuskers 20-12 after connecting on nine of their first 13 shots.Nebraska responded by going on a 25-4 run to end the first half and scored the first nine points of the second half to bring the run’s total to 34-4 in favor of the Cornhuskers.Although IU’s field goal percentage (.435) surpassed Nebraska’s (.333) by 10 percent, Nebraska attempted 21 more field goals and three more free throws.Leading the way for the Hoosiers was junior forward Sasha Chaplin, who tallied a season-high 15 points, six rebounds and a career-high four blocks. She has now scored in double figures six times this year, including three of the past four games. She has also led the team in scoring in consecutive games after posting 14 points against Minnesota on Monday.Nebraska forward Jordan Hooper led Nebraska with 21 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. She leads the team in both points and rebounds and is now averaging 26 points and 11.5 rebounds in Big Ten play. IU will battle the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Assembly Hall.
(12/09/11 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers will travel to Indianapolis for their closest road game of the season to take on IU-Purdue University Indianapolis. The match is set to tip off at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Jungle, the Jaguar’s home court.This will be the Hoosiers’ last game before the fall semester officially ends.IU and IUPUI last faced each other on Nov. 15, 2009. IU won that battle by a score of 75-52.The Hoosiers hope the result will be the same as last time to not only snap their streak, but to also help improve their 2-6 record that puts them at the bottom of the Big Ten so far.IUPUI’s Summit League, however, has begun play. The Jaguars are right in the middle of their conference standings at 1-1. They have a 4-5 record overall. Unlike the Hoosiers, their longest streak of the year, winning or losing, is two, resulting from consecutive wins against Lamar and North Dakota State.The Hoosiers’ youth and lack of experience have hurt them so far this year, so the timing for IUPUI is ideal for them. Their roster contains two seniors, and only one, Janna Eichelberger, has played in a game for the Jaguars this year.Another streak the Hoosiers hope to kill is their consecutive games of being out-rebounded by their opponents, which is also at five.The loss of senior forward Georgie Jones could damage the team’s chances of ending the streak, but fellow senior forward Danilsa Andujar has stepped up her play in the two games since Jones’ season-ending injury.Against Oklahoma State Sunday, she recorded her first double-double of the season and the second of her career with 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. She also added a block, assist and steal during the 83-72 loss.When IU traveled to St. Bonaventure Wednesday, Andujar posted her second straight double-double performance and set career highs for both points and rebounds with 12 and 13, respectively. She was a starter in that game against the Bonnies.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she appreciates Andujar’s efforts, but she still wants more of an all-around effort.Legette-Jack said she expects “the team” to replace Jones for the remainder of the year.“It was good to see Danilsa Andujar with another double-double performance, but we just need a few others to help her along as we move forward,” she said.Another player the Hoosiers will look to for inspiration is junior forward Aulani Sinclair. She has now scored in double figures for six straight games.Like Andujar, however, Legette-Jack doesn’t want the rest of the team relying on her shooting.“I just never was comfortable with a go-to player and that certainly isn’t going to begin now,” Legette-Jack said. “I think we can’t begin now. “Every day somebody can become something significant. My hope is that they all believe that.”
(12/08/11 4:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The losing streak continued for the IU women’s basketball team Wednesday night.The team lost in its first true New York road game since 1979 to St. Bonaventure 65-45, bringing its losing streak to five games. After starting the season with a 2-1 record, the Hoosiers are now 2-6 and currently last in overall standing for the Big Ten.The victory for St. Bonaventure brings its record to 7-1 and first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings.IU was outrebounded 42-36. The team has not won the battle of the boards in any of its five consecutive losses.The Bonnies didn’t waste time in their quest for victory, jumping out to a 19-3 lead in the first 7:19. The Hoosiers closed the gap to as little as nine points in the first half, but they could never fully recover from the instant deficit.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack wasn’t surprised by the level of play from St. Bonaventure.“They’re a very feisty team,” she said of the Bonnies. “They’ve always been a very good team the last four years. It’s a team that protects home court very, very well. Their kids believe they are winners, and they go out and perform accordingly.”For the second straight game, senior forward Danilsa Andujar and junior forward Aulani Sinclair led the Hoosiers with their performances.Andujar recorded her second straight double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs. Andujar has stepped up as the replacement for senior forward Georgie Jones in the two games she has missed. Jones was hurt at Virginia and will miss the remainder of the season.Sinclair continued her hot scoring streak. Notching 13 points, she has now scored at least 11 in the past six games and led the Hoosiers in scoring for four consecutive matches. Although she only made two field goals, she went to the free throw line nine times and converted eight of those attempts.Andujar and Sinclair also contributed to playing time, logging 38 and 37 minutes, respectively. Both logged more minutes than anyone else on either team.The hurt of losing Jones was evident in this game, as the leader for St. Bonaventure was its 6-foot-1-inch senior forward Megan Van Tatenhove. She scored 18 points, grabbed 10 boards and dished for three assists.IU will try to end its losing streak Sunday when it travels to IU-Purdue University Indianapolis.Legette-Jack plans to have her team ready to snap the unwanted streak.“We just didn’t come ready to play tonight,” she said. “We’ll get back in the gym when we get back to prepare for an in-state battle with IUPUI on Sunday.”
(12/05/11 4:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana women's basketball team lost to Oklahoma State 83-72 in the second installment of the Big 12/Big Ten Challenge on Sunday.Oklahoma State’s victory gave it a 4-0 record. The team is now 3-0 since losing Head Coach Kurt Budke and Assistant Coach Miranda Serna in a Nov. 17 plane crash. There was a moment of silence before the game.IU’s loss extended its current losing streak to four and put its record at 2-5.The Hoosiers led by as many as eight with 8:56 to go in the first half, but turnovers and missed shots helped the Cowgirls go on an 8-0 run to end the first half’s final 2:31.They continued that streak into the second half, going on a 18-2 run in the first 5:52 of the second period. IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack acknowledged that run as the key to the game.“We fought hard today, but we fell short,” she said. “I think the first five minutes of the second half really did us in. We put ourselves in such a deficit to a team that good with that kind of emotion behind it. “Their ability is very difficult to come back from. We fell short of perfection, but we didn’t fall short of the desire and heart and grit.”IU will finish the season without senior forward Georgie Jones. The captain injured her ACL during Thursday night’s loss to Virginia. The injury leaves an already young and inexperienced team searching for continuity.“I told this team that we’re going to be good late because we have to continue to get to know ourselves and each other,” Legette-Jack said. “Unfortunately, as we’re getting to know each other, we’re playing some really tough teams, but we’re learning lessons, and if we stay in to it and stay focused, we’re going to be good, and we’re going to be good soon.”Leading the way for the Hoosiers were senior forward Danilsa Andujar and junior forward Aulani Sinclair.Andujar had her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sinclair scored 23 points with five three-pointers and shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Her performance puts her at five straight games with double-digit scoring. She also led the team in scoring in four of those five contests.As the only captain now able to play, Sinclair said she knows the importance of leading by example.“During the offseason, I focused a lot on my shooting, and this year, especially with this game, with Georgie down, we all just had a focus of giving it everything you have just for the team and Georgie, especially. So I just went out there and gave it everything I had,” Sinclair said.
(12/01/11 5:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the IU men’s basketball team heads home from North Carolina after its Big Ten/ACC Challenge win, the women’s basketball team will follow to the east coast for its own battle against an ACC opponent.The 2-3 Hoosiers will face off against the 5-2 Virginia Cavaliers at 7 p.m. today in Charlottesville, Va., for the fifth edition of the women’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she knows this will be the Hoosiers’ toughest opponent yet.“They’re a fantastic team,” she said. “We’ve got to be 100 percent focused and unified to go up to their house and beat them, and we’re preparing to do that.”IU is 2-2 overall in the annual challenge. The Hoosiers won in last year’s battle, beating Clemson on the road by a score of 65-51.This will be only the third matchup ever between the Hoosiers and the Cavaliers. The last time the two universities faced off, Virginia won in the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam on Nov. 26, 2009. The final score was 84-79.This will be IU’s first matchup of the season against a major conference foe, but Virginia has already faced that level of competition. In their fourth game of the season, the Cavaliers beat then-third-ranked Tennessee in overtime 69-64. They faced then-22nd-ranked Texas in their next matchup, losing 79-53.Endurance is one way Legette-Jack is preparing her squad for Thursday’s battle. She acknowledged after this past Friday’s loss to Toledo that she did not properly prepare her players and took full responsibility. With tougher practices this week, Legette-Jack said she doesn’t plan on letting that happen again.“We’ve got more cardiovascular involved with transitions,” she said. “When you’re teaching them, you’ve got to be able to cardiovascularly get them ready, too, and so we’ve done a lot of that the last couple days, and they’ve responded quite well.”Legette-Jack also said with such a young team, they’ve eliminated a lot of the players’ talking in practice to teach them focus.Senior forward Georgie Jones has helped lead the young Hoosiers so far. As one of the two team captains, she has served as an example for her teammates with her performance on the court. She has recorded three double-doubles this season and is just short of averaging one at 10.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.Jones said she prefers such performance leadership over the vocal type.“I think that as a leader, you want to be vocal, but honestly, you want to lead by example, too,” she said. “If you lead by example, that’s showing that I do make mistakes, but you’ve got to learn how to play through them and not drop your head. I just like to give 100 percent effort because I think that if I can show them that if you work hard, you get results, that will hopefully motivate everybody.”Starting today, five of IU’s next seven matches will be on the road. Jones sees the challenge as an opportunity for the Hoosiers to show their mental toughness.“We’re in the same boat, so it’s basically going through the same things, coming off of losses, so it’s basically whoever has more heart,” she said of Virginia. “But I think we’re going to show up, too. It’s always tough being on the road, but that’s when you’ve got to work even harder.”
(11/26/11 4:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the first time of the year, the IU women’s basketball team has lost consecutive games.The squad fell at home to the Toledo Rockets on Friday night by a score of 69-58.The loss dipped IU’s record to a losing one of 2-3 for another first of the year. Toledo improved to a 3-1 record.In a game that included 50 total turnovers and multiple impressive runs by each team, inconsistent play would be an understatement of how the match could be described. Inconsistency has plagued the Hoosiers frequently so far in the young season, and IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack knows the exact problem.“Youth. It’s youth,” she said. “It’s youth that allows the inconsistency. Once the youth grow up and really get to know each other and really start coming in the gym and playing with each other…Once they start to know that, then we’ll get a little more consistency in the group that’s out there."Out of the team's first four regular season games, only one was in Bloomington. Legette-Jack won’t allow that to be an excuse.“It is what it is,” she said in reference to the schedule. “I think that we were on the road an awful lot my first year here, and we did some fantastic things there, so there’s no excuses on where you play. You could play in the alley, you can play in the park, you can play at Assembly or at the next person’s arena. You’ve got to be prepared to play when the ball goes in the air. No excuses.”The shining stars for IU were the two captains of the team: senior forward Georgie Jones and junior forward Aulani Sinclair.Jones finished with 11 rebounds and 10 points for her third double-double this season and fourth of her career. After five games she is just shy of averaging a double-double with 10.4 points 9.6 rebounds per contest.Sinclair continued her recent hot streak by notching a game high 23 points and adding three rebounds and two steals. Her spot-on shooting once again aided the way for the Hoosiers. She shot 8-of-10 from the field, 2-for-3 behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the free throw line exactly one week after a perfect shooting nightat Belmont.Through the first five games Sinclair has the best shooter for IU. Her percentages of 59.4 from field goals, 77.8 for threes, and 86.7 for free throws are all bests for a team that ranked last in three point and free throw percentage in the Big Ten before the start of the game.Despite struggling through losses like they had versus Toledo, Sinclair remained calm and patient for future results.“Everyday we’re continuing to get better, so I don’t look it as any negative,” she said. “It’s just everyday we’re getting better so it’s a positive.”Legette-Jack was also optimistic for the remainder of the season.“We’re learning tough lessons right now,” she said. “It’s a young team that really has to grow up very quickly, but I like the talent of this team, and once we start to get rid of these hiccups that we’ve had…we’re going to be good late. We can be good late.”
(11/21/11 2:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the fall semester transitions from the 12th week of classes to the 13th, students across campus are preparing to go home for Thanksgiving. The three-day break allows students to see their family and friends and recharge for the stretch leading up to finals week.The students on the women’s basketball team, however, do not get the same holiday experience. Instead of eating turkey, stuffing and other traditional Thanksgiving foods at home with their relatives, the players are staying in Bloomington to practice and prepare for their Black Friday match up against Toledo.Despite losing a chance to see their loved ones, the squad members said they don’t plan on letting it get them down. Junior center Sasha Chaplin said she knows the number-one focus throughout the whole season needs to be basketball, even during holiday breaks.“At this point ... I want to be playing basketball,” she said. “The team wants to be playing basketball, and we want to get better. We’re constantly practicing and trying to get better, trying to fix the little things we had before break.”Chaplin said it can easily make the freshmen homesick, but with team bonding and the help of veteran players, it becomes easier as the years go by.Freshman guard Necole Sterling grew up in northern Virginia. To help keep her mind off being away from her family, she said she plans to use the holiday breaks to grow as close to her new Bloomington family as possible.“I would rather be here. They’re my family now,” she said. “I feel like our team chemistry isn’t there yet, but it will be in staying over Thanksgiving break and over the holidays — like Christmas — is going to bring us better team chemistry and knowing and understanding each other.”Sterling said the team plans to spend the holiday together by eating a Thanksgiving feast at one of the coach’s homes.The break also provides the Hoosiers some rest. Their one game during break is at home, so they don’t have to travel across the country. When they’re not in practice or at the game, they can just relax in a way not possible when they have classes.“It’s easier because you don’t have the stress of trying to get class work done or trying to study for exams during that time,” Chaplin said. “You have that time to recuperate and relax your mind mentally from school. We’re at each others’ houses watching movies or in the gym getting up some shots.”Despite the holiday and absence of classes, IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she plans to keep the schedule and atmosphere as close to normal as possible. Keeping her focus on the season, Legette-Jack said she doesn’t want anything to throw the Hoosiers out of their groove.“It’s going to remain the same schedule,” she said. “You want to keep your routine going because if you get out of your routine, you’re not going to have a consistency going.”
(11/21/11 2:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team (2-1) defeated Belmont in Nashville, Tenn. on Friday, 63-52.Leading the way for the Hoosiers were junior forward Aulani Sinclair with 12 points, senior guard Alisha Goodwin with 11 and freshman center Quaneisha McCurty with 10. All three came off the bench to give IU a 44-14 advantage in points from reserves.IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she was impressed by her Hoosiers’ defense.“I thought that Georgie Jones did a great job of really setting the tone defensively,” she said. “I thought Candyce Ussery came in and did some fun things off the ball as well as on the ball. I thought that the ball pressure is finally getting better, probably a long way to go, but it’s great to see they’ve got hot hands and lateral quickness.”Sinclair recorded a perfect night of shooting, going 4-of-4 from the field, including two from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.McCurty posted her first career double-double by adding a game-high 16 rebounds to her 10 points. She also contributed defensively, adding two steals and two blocks.IU was up by as much as 15 points until 11:41 remaining in the second half, when Belmont charged back. The Bruins went on a 12-2 run to shorten the lead to five and eventually got within three with 4:30 remaining. The Hoosiers responded by finishing the game on a 14-4 run of their own to close out the Bruins for good.A strength in IU’s win was its defense and rebounding. The Hoosiers won for the third straight game, 55-41. They kept the Bruins to just 28.3 percent shooting and stole the ball 12 times.IU will next turn its attention to Miami University. The Hoosiers will travel to play the RedHawks at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Oxford, Ohio.Miami is coming off an 81-56 victory against Massachusetts to improve its season record to 2-1. In their previous games, theRedHawks beat Marshall and lost to Temple, both of which were on the road. IU will be looking to stop Miami’s junior guard, Courtney Osborn. She is the RedHawks’ leading scorer and playmaker so far this season, averaging 16.7 points and five assists per contest. Both of those numbers are higher than any Hoosier’s average this year. Last year, Osborn torched IU for 26 points and three assists, including four three pointers.IU will be looking to McCurty, coming off her double-double, to use her decisive height advantage again. At 6 feet 6 inches, she is at least five inches taller than any of Miami’s starters.“She’s a special kid that’s going to continue to get better,” Legette-Jack said of McCurty. “There’s a lot more in her that we know we can pull out of her. Once this kid gets stronger, I think she’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
(11/16/11 6:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the 2011-12 basketball season kicks off, it marks the 30th season of Big Ten play for the women. All 12 teams are gearing up through early season matchups to prepare for their grueling meetings Dec. 30.The opening night for Big Ten play features Michigan at Illinois, Northwestern at Iowa, Minnesota at Purdue, Nebraska at Penn State, Ohio State at Wisconsin and your Indiana Hoosiers taking on Michigan State.IU hopes to rebound from a 3-13 conference record that placed the team 10th out of last year’s 11 teams.Because of last year’s record, the Hoosiers are not ranked in the preseason’s top 25, but IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she isn’t bothered.“It’s whatever people say and that’s who they are and they do their thing,” she said in reference to Penn State, Purdue and Michigan State, who all are ranked in the preseason’s top 25 list. “We’ve got to do ours. We’ve just got to represent Indiana now.”Ohio State and Iowa also received votes for the ranking, but not enough to earn a spot in the top 25.IU knows a rise in the standings from a year ago will indeed be tough. Last year’s seventh place finisher, Purdue (9-7 conference record), was four games behind first place Michigan State (13-3) and only two behind second place Penn State (11-5). Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin all tied for third (10-6).Junior forward Aulani Sinclair said she doesn’t see a conference loaded with top teams as a negative. She sees it as an opportunity.“I feel like we’re always counted as the underdogs, so we have to prove this year that we’re not the underdog anymore,” the junior captain said. “When we start knocking teams off, people will finally realize that.”New to the Big Ten this year is Nebraska, which finished 3-13 in the Big 12 a year ago and 13-18 overall. Leading the Cornhuskers is Coach Connie Yori. She has compiled a 166-117 overall record in her 10 years as Nebraska’s head coach.Another new face to the Big Ten this year is Wisconsin’s Coach Bobbie Kelsey. This is her first year as a head coach anywhere after most recently serving as an assistant at Stanford.This year’s Big Ten’s Preseason Players of the Year award was given to Ohio State senior guard Samantha Prahalis and Penn State junior guard Alex Bentley. Prahalis led the Big Ten in assists a year ago and was named to the All-Big Ten second-team. Bentley was the only unanimous selection for the Preseason All-Big Ten team after being chosen as an All-Big Ten first-team last season.The top team to look out for this year will be Penn State. The Nittany Lions were selected as the preseason favorite to win this year’s conference championship. After finishing second in the Big Ten last year for both conference and overall record, they are returning with 10 letterwinners, including Bentley, three other starters and last season’s Sixth Player and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Maggie Lucas. Penn State also reached the second round of last year’s NCAA national tournament.Sinclair said she is excited about facing to face the Nittany Lions.“I’m looking forward to playing Penn State, just because they are ranked number one,” she said. “They’ve got that big target on their back, so playing them is always fun because we know we have to knock them off. It’s just a big rivalry between them, too.”