Hard work leads to improvement for junior

Junior guard Heather Cassady arrives an hour before practice begins and hits the basketball court. She works with one of the assistant coaches, who passes her the ball as she runs across the floor. She hits jump shots, lay-ups and free throws.\nHer shots swish through the hoop far more times than they bounce out.\nShe's perspiring and breathing heavily as she varies the drill. Cassady has 45 minutes before practice starts, but she won't stop until 3 p.m., when practice is over.\n"Heather, every day, is the first one in the gym," junior forward Erin McGinnis said. "She never takes a minute off in practice. You have to pretty much drag her off the floor to get her to sit out for a minute. She's really one of the hardest workers I have ever met."\nThe co-captain was given a new role this season. Coach Kathi Bennett made it clear at the beginning of the year she wanted Cassady to pass more and shoot less. In 13 of the Hoosiers' 21 games, the 5-foot-7 guard from Peoria, Ill.,, had less than 10 shot attempts. \n"What I want out of a point guard is being able to make good decisions and know what good shots are," Bennett said. "(To) know when you, yourself has to step up, but still be able to distribute the ball around when it comes to that. Heather\'s done a great job of that."\nThe majority her single-digit shot attempts came during the nonconference part of the schedule, but as the Hoosiers entered the Big Ten season, Cassady has been called on to shoot more.\nIn IU's last nonconference game against Ole Miss, Cassady looked at the basket six times. But eight days later, in the Big Ten opener against Ohio State, Cassady fired 10 attempts.\nIt's not just the teams that the Hoosiers are playing that determines her shot attempts; it's the situations that occur during the game.\nIn the last five games, Cassady has steadily increased her scoring, and in the games against Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State, Cassady averaged 18.7 points. Her career and season-high points came against Wisconsin, when she went 9-for-13 and ended with 27 points.\nCassady's increased shooting is not a fluke. The Hoosiers have seen a decrease in minutes from junior center Jill Chapman because of early foul trouble. \nAfter playing a season-high 35 minutes against Wisconsin, Chapman played for 14 minutes against Ohio State and scored six points. In those 14 minutes, Chapman had three fouls, and continued her streak of more than three fouls in the last nine games.\nBennett said it's not that Chapman's play has been on the decline, it's just the fouls that are killing her. Bennett added that the teams focus hasn't changed, just that Cassady has been given more opportunities to score.\n"Players have been keying in on Jill lately, so the shots have been there," Cassady said. "There's more pressure on me, but everyone has to step up. When (Jill's) in foul or trouble or on the bench, we all have to take on bigger roles."\nThe rest of the team has stepped up to the task. At least eight of the Hoosiers have scored in double digits in at least one of the games. Seven different women have been a game high scorer.\nThe situation of having more than just Cassady as a shooter is a new concept to the team. Last year, it was Cassady who was held responsible for most of the shooting. \n"We depended on her to shoot a lot more last year," McGinnis said. "This year we can pass the ball around, and other people have stepped up and taken more of a role of a scorer. She can (now) use more of her abilities passing-wise and shooting-wise.\nCassady agreed.\n"More pressure was on my shoulders to score last year," Cassady said. "This year, it's just been game by game, what teams are defensively playing against us"