IU women’s basketball was off and running right from the start Thursday night against the Northern Kentucky Norse.
When senior forward Jenn Anderson won the opening tip off, junior forward Amanda Cahill controlled it. From there Cahill tossed it ahead to junior guard Tyra Buss, who laid it in. IU didn’t look back from there and scored the first 25 points of the game.
Behind a fast start led by senior guard Karlee McBride with 16 points, IU defeated Northern Kentucky 100-49 Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
“We were really excited to be back at home,” Cahill said. “We came into the game ready. We were challenged to execute and get stops defensively, and we did a good job. We did a good job, especially at the beginning, coming out with a lot of energy.”
The offense was once again clicking. Following a 64-percent shooting performance at North Texas, the Hoosiers had another efficient shooting night at 61 percent. Six Hoosiers scored in double figures, and Buss and senior guard Alexis Gassion both tallied double-doubles. Gassion had 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Buss added 14 points to go along with 10 assists.
Lately Buss has been doing most of the scoring for the Hoosiers. She has scored 38 and 21 points in the two games previous to the one against Northern Kentucky. On Thursday, that wasn’t the case. She was just 3-of-10 from the field for six points in the first half and finished with 14 points. The numbers were there, but it was not her most efficient night from the floor, as she missed eight of her 14 shots.
“For us, to be able to score the way we did is great,” IU Coach Teri Moren said. “We’re shooting at a high percentage as a team. I’m really pleased with the way we’ve been shooting the ball.”
On the boards, the Hoosiers outmatched the Norse. Northern Kentucky only grabbed 22 rebounds compared to IU’s 49. The Hoosiers turned 18 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points.
Moren was pleased with the offense. The defense, however, was another story. She specifically called out the bench and said she doesn’t expect them to come in and score but wants them to be in the right spots and observe what the starters are doing while sitting on the bench.
“I’m not sure what our bench looks at and what their takeaways are,” Moren said. “We’ve asked them to come in and be focused, we’ve asked them to watch what’s going on out on the floor. There have been times when they come in and they make mistakes and you just go ‘we just got done coming out of a timeout’ ... and they come out and make the same mistake.”
After playing five out of the last six games on the road, the Hoosiers were glad to get back home to Assembly Hall. The recent six-game stretch saw them go 3-3 with all three losses coming on the road. Moren said they learned a lot about themselves while playing away from home.
On Thursday, IU extended its home win streak to 18 games, and it will get a chance to extend that Sunday when it welcomes Valparaiso. If the energy is anything like what Moren demonstrated in her postgame press conference, they should be ready to go.
“Just tuning up little things,” Gassion said of what needs to improve. “Defensively, offensively, and that’s all you can do.”
