Backup center leaves for Ohio St.

Deaths of four loved ones in three years and extreme homesickness proved too much to handle in Bloomington for one young woman and basketball player. \nJunior center Erika Christenson, formerly of the women's basketball team, left IU in mid-December to seek peace of mind and closeness with her family.\nChristenson transferred to Ohio State and will practice with the Buckeyes Tuesday. She said from her home in Fairborn, Ohio, that she left IU with no hard feelings toward the Hoosiers. In fact, coach Kathi Bennett and her assistants supported Christenson through the tragedies.\nTragedies including the deaths of a grandfather, grandmother and a great uncle -- and what Christenson described as an accidental shooting that killed her best friend a week before the fall semester.\nBennett, who had allowed Christenson to take the preseason off to deal with her problems, said she wishes Christenson the best. \nBesides dealing with homesickness and misfortune, Christenson said she was unhappy with her meager playing time at IU. She played 20 minutes in four games this season. She scored one point after averaging 3.5 points the previous two years.\nLast year, she played in every game and averaged 13 minutes and four points. But this year, her role fell to that of a third-string center behind All-Big Ten selection Jill Chapman and 6-foot forward Allison Skapin, who's four inches shorter than Christenson.\n"It wasn't necessarily playing time," said Christenson, who chose to leave Dec. 15, the day before the Hoosiers' win over Long Beach State. "I wasn't happy with my playing time, but it wasn't one specific thing…There are no hard feelings at all. The coaches have been supportive through everything."\nThe Hoosiers continue to rely heavily on Chapman at center. Christenson's absence leaves Skapin, who averages 3.5 points, and 6-6 senior center Jelena Lazic, who averages 1.8 points. The two are the least used reserves.\n"The post rotation, we have enough players," Bennett said. "We just have to have them step up."\nAfter sitting out a year, as required by NCAA transfer regulations, Christenson will have three semesters of eligibility starting next January. She cannot earn a scholarship because the Big Ten doesn't allow them for players who transfer within the conference.\nChristenson said she will have a good chance to play for a team that has struggled with injuries so much that at one point, only seven players suited up to compete last year. She also will play with 10 women she competed with at the AAU level.\nBetter, but far from perfect\nBennett said the 2001-2002 Hoosiers are better than last season's team that finished 20-11, reached the second round of the WNIT and placed sixth in the Big Ten. She said her Hoosiers have displayed impressive intensity at times and have improved their rebounding.\nStill, at 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers have plenty of room for improvement. Bennett is stressing transition defense, individual defense and reducing turnovers in practice. And she continues to worry about fatigue.\nPerhaps IU's toughest loss of the break -- and the season -- arrived Dec. 21, 77-66, to the Mid-American Conference's Kent State on the road. The Golden Flashes (6-7) have a power rating of 152, according to collegerpi.com.\nIU shot a combined 32 percent. After leading 37-31 at the half, the Golden Flashes outscored the Hoosiers 46-29.\n"At Kent State, that was not our team," Bennett said. "We were so flat with no energy. We have to show some toughness, especially when we're down six to eight points."\nOver winter break\nThe vacation began with IU's 88-56, pad-the-stats thrashing of Long Beach State (5-7). Five Hoosiers scored in double digits, and the team shot 51 percent. \nThe Dec. 19 game between Florida State (10-5) and IU was supposed to be a reunion between former Martinsville High School standouts April Traylor of the Seminoles and Hoosier guard Kristen Bodine. With Bodine on the bench with a torn ACL, Traylor hit the game-winner with 1.4 seconds left and finished with 20 points. The Hoosiers trailed 36-23 at the half but outscored the Seminoles 38-26 in the second half.\nThe Hoosiers opened the Big Ten season with a pair of solid victories against Michigan State, which later surprised No. 8 Georgia, and Ohio State. Ohio State, in turn, upset then-No. 24 Penn State at State College, Pa., and 2001 Big Ten tournament champion, Iowa.\nBennett said defense should carry the Hoosiers in the nation's third toughest conference -- and defense withstood two significant Buckeye runs, holding Ohio State (8-7) to 24 percent shooting in the second half for a 64-52 triumph.\n"Indiana disrupted our offense big time," Ohio State coach Beth Burns said. "The majority of our guards were just taken out of the game by their defense. This was by far the most physical team we have seen this year. They made us expend all of our energy."\nThe Hoosiers finished the break with a 74-54 rout of Wisconsin.