Junior comes back after year on bench

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- It's been a long time coming for junior forward Erin McGinnis.\nAfter sitting out a year, and being on the bench for most of this one, McGinnis was in the spot she envisioned nearly two years ago when she transferred to IU from Auburn -- with the ball in her hands and the game on the line.\nWith the clock running down, McGinnis proved her worth, sinking a 12-foot jumper to beat Michigan State 52-50 Sunday. \nWith 9.9 seconds on the clock, and the game tied, McGinnis wasn't necessarily supposed to get the ball, coach Kathi Bennett said. But she did anyway, with the Spartans' best player in her face. Let disappointed Michigan State coach Joanne McCallie finish the story.\n"It was a nice ball fake by (McGinnis)," McCallie said. "I like that (Julie) Pagel was there. That's a good match-up or us. We let her get on track in the game too much. Early on, she hit some threes. We let her get to a point of confidence where she was feeling good about hitting the last second shot."\nTime out. Let's check how McGinnis built the confidence McCallie spoke of. With her team up by two, McGinnis made eight consecutive points on a driving lay-up and two three-pointers to balloon the Hoosier lead and give IU the momentum.\nFirst, McGinnis was left alone two feet behind the three-point line. Seeing the shot, she took it and pumped her fist as it went down. The next trip down, a quick head fake left the Spartans in the dust as she weaved through the MSU defense. \nIn the third trip, a quick pass from junior center Jill Chapman made McGinnis' shot easy. With IU trailing 23-22 at halftime, the Hoosiers needed a quick start, and got it from McGinnis. \n"Erin got hot there to start us off and that helped a lot," Bennett said. "It opened everything up." Now, back to McCallie and how the Spartans have now lost nine consecutive games. \n"We recognized (McGinnis) taking the ball out of bounds," McCallie said. "We thought she might step in and do something. But when she cut through, that was good because Pagel is good on that side. But she made a terrific ball fake, and hit a great shot. She deserves all the credit in the world."\nMcGinnis finished with 15 points, one off the career-high she set in Thursday's win against Wisconsin. She added three rebounds, two blocks and two assists.\nBoth of the assists were to Chapman, whose 25 points paced IU.\n"I really like working with Erin," Chapman said. "She's a great passer."\nAnd with the game in her hands, a pretty good shooter, Bennett said.\n"She's worked so hard on her shot," said Bennett after Thursday's win. "It's not luck"