Team sits at No. 5 after Wildcat win

Center Jill Chapman got a marriage proposal. Point guard Heather Cassady addressed half of Assembly Hall, thanking everyone from her sisters to people from her high school. Reserve center Jelena Lazic got to hear the Serbian national anthem for the first time in five years.\nIn between Senior Day introductions and tear-filled speeches Sunday, the women's basketball team romped Northwestern 74-52, as head coach Kathi Bennett returned to the sidelines after breaking a neck vertebra in a car accident Feb. 8. \nIU exploited much of Big Ten-worst Northwestern's weaknesses with a balanced, unselfish act. The Hoosiers locked up the fifth seed in this week\'s Big Ten tournament, ensuring a first-round bye and will play fourth-seed Iowa Friday.\n"I think tonight gives us great confidence that our destiny is in our own hands," senior guard Tara Jones said. "Hopefully we can take this momentum into the tournament and make great things happen."\nJones was the only Hoosier to score in double figures with 21 points. Three others scored eight apiece, and three more tallied seven each.\nBesides eight points and eight rebounds, Chapman's longtime boyfriend proposed to her during the seniors' speeches. She accepted.\nNever trailing, IU (14-13, 8-8 Big Ten) built up a lead as big as 19 points in the first half with a 13-3 run during the final five minutes. That lead expanded to as much as 28 points with 8:22 left in the game. The Hoosiers' bench scored 23 points to Northwestern's seven.\nThe Wildcats (4-23, 0-16) entered the game last in the Big Ten in scoring offense, scoring margin, field-goal percentage, rebounding margin and turnover margin. The rejuvenated Hoosiers, who have won their last three games, rubbed salt in the Wildcats' wounds -- holding Northwestern to 24 percent for three-point shooting and forcing 19 turnovers. Freshman center Sarah Kwasinski led the Wildcats with 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting and seven rebounds.\n"We gave up some looks on the ball screens up top and we definitely have to improve in that area," associate coach Trish Betthauser said. "But we were in the gaps. We were active. We got a lot of tips, a lot of deflections, and I think that caused some of those turnovers."\nMuch of IU's firepower came from three pointers, as the Hoosiers shot 47 percent from behind the arc (8-of-17) and 44 percent from the field. The Wildcats shot 41 percent overall and 24 percent for threes.\n"We're getting really good guard play," Bennett said. "Our guard play has been very much improved and we're shooting the ball better, too. I think our offense is a lot smoother. I think that has contributed a lot to our recent success"