Hoosiers enter Pac-10/Big Ten challenge

Women's basketball's Pac-10/Big Ten Challenge hardly reflects the men's Big Ten/ACC challenge. But nevertheless the female version brings together four opponents from two of the sport's most competitive conferences.\nIU, Washington, Washington State and No. 16 Michigan face off Friday and Sunday in Seattle. No other Big Ten and Pac-10 women's teams will meet this weekend -- a far cry from the nine highly promoted games in the men's Big Ten/ACC Challenge.\nAll games of the Pac-10/Big Ten will be played at the 10,000-seat Bank of America Arena. The games won't be televised.\n"I think this is a really good opportunity for us, just for the Big Ten to go 4-0," junior guard Jill Hartman said. "It's a great thing for our conference to show the Pac-10 that we can play. It'll be good to see Michigan before we play them in the Big Ten season."\nThe Hoosiers don't face Michigan until Jan. 20 in Ann Arbor, Mich., but coach Kathi Bennett and her players can scout the Wolverines this weekend, who recently knocked off defending national champion Notre Dame, 78-63.\nBoth IU and Michigan haven't had much success against the Pac-10. The Wolverines have not defeated a Pac-10 team in six games. IU hasn't fared much better, going 3-4.\nNeither the Hoosiers nor Michigan has faced Washington State, but Washington defeated the Wolverines twice and lost to the Hoosiers twice.\nStarting the season at No. 19, Washington (4-3) fell out of the national polls after several close losses, including 72-68 to San Francisco. The only other Big 10 opponent Washington faced this season was No. 22 Wisconsin, in a 87-67 loss. The Huskies are 11-12 all-time against the Big 10.\n"I just got done watching a ton of tape on them," Bennett said Tuesday. "They're a very, very good basketball team. The losses that they had were very close. Teams were sky-high for them. I feel they're a team that their guards are just phenomenal. They can spread you out, they can shoot the three. They can penetrate. \n"But their post play is a really good because you can push them out and they can hit the turnaround jumper from nine to 12 feet. It's a hard decision. Do you bring the double team? Do you not? They're very effective."\nRiding on a five-game winning streak, the Wolverines (5-1) also have proved effective. They open the weekend against Washington State Friday, before testing Washington Sunday. Michigan has faced one other ranked opponent this year, falling to No. 7 Louisiana Tech. In their last meeting, Washington beat the Wolverines 73-60 last year in Ann Arbor.\n"It's always fun to go out there with another Big Ten school," senior point guard Heather Cassady said. "I know a couple girls on the Michigan team and we're talking about it to see how it is. It'll be fun to see them out there."\nWashington State (2-4) finished 11-17 overall and 6-12 in the Pac-10 for a ninth-place finish last season. This season, the Cougars have won against Portland State and Gonzaga. Leading scorer freshman guard Francine McCurtain averages 11.5 points. The Cougars average 59.8 points a game and shoot 47 percent (33-of-71) from behind the three-point line.\nWashington State coach Jenny Przekwas said she expects Michigan to probably be the strongest opponent her team will face and both Big Ten opponents to flaunt a fierce inside game.\n"For the Big Ten, I would consider the post play to be very strong," Przekwas said. "A big challenge is the inside game, trying to contain the post play. I would assume there to be superior size"