Winning mindset melts under PSU

The women\'s basketball team threw the ball away 13 times in the first half last night against Penn State. The Hoosiers came back after halftime to turn the ball over only four times.\nBut it was too little too late.\nThe Hoosiers were slow in correcting sloppy ball handling and slow in figuring out how to defend Penn State\'s Kelly Mazzante, leading IU coach Kathi Bennett to say her team\'s winning mentality remains weak.\n\"I feel like the teams like the Penn States and the Purdue\'s and even Iowa a little bit, our mentality\'s a little different,\" Bennett said after the 67-59 loss. \"It took us too long to realize we could compete with them.\"\nThe Hoosiers (11-12, 5-7 Big Ten) led once during the game -- 4-3 at 18:33 in the first half. The Nittany Lions (16-8, 8-3 Big Ten) leaped to a lead as large as 11 before halftime on the strength of 15 points off IU turnovers. IU roared back from a 17-point deficit in the second half to within five points with 2:23 left. \nBut Bennett said poor shooting doomed her team.\n\"We handled their pressure except for the beginning of the first half,\" Bennett said. \"We did get some good shots, we started defending. We had an opportunity down the stretch and didn\'t shoot the ball well again.\"\nPenn State Rene Portland said she is pleased how her team of two seniors, no juniors and 10 sophomores and freshmen has progressed. The Nittany Lions have won their last five games after a 3-3 start in the Big Ten.\n\"We\'ve learned from a lot of things,\" Portland said. \"We played a great non-conference schedule. We played 10 of our first 15 games away, which is suicidal but we learned how to do it.\"\nHoosiers to battle Purdue, Boilermaker fans\nWinning at Mackey Arena has been elusive for the Hoosiers.\nPurdue losing in West Lafayette just doesn\'t happen often. IU hasn\'t succeeded there since Jan. 26, 1997. The Hoosier seniors have never beaten Purdue (18-3, 9-2 Big Ten). And the Boilermakers cling to a 23-game winning streak, the third-longest in the nation.\nSometimes, 13,000 hostile fans sporting black and gold will do that to you. That many showed up for the Boilers\' 65-55 victory over No. 21 Wisconsin Sunday.\nBennett called Mackey the toughest place she\'s coached at. Bennett\'s first game there proves her point -- the Hoosiers stumbled 87-46.\n\"I think I\'ve pretty much forgotten about the last time,\" guard Tara Jones said. \"It\'s a great atmosphere to play basketball in because all the fans love women\'s basketball. The fans are very, very supportive of the team.\" \nThe Boilermakers have registered seven wins in a row. During that time span, they edged the Hoosiers 61-53 at Assembly Hall, barely appearing to be the nation\'s seventh-ranked team. \n\"I really didn\'t feel like they were ready to play that night,\" Jones said. \"It was just a slow game overall. They\'re a fast-break team, and when you\'re playing half-court ball, it takes away from the teams that like to play fast-paced.\"\nSolid traditions, recruiting winners produce Big Ten titles\nPurdue and Penn State have climbed to the top of the Big Ten thanks in part to their programs\' storied traditions -- something the Hoosiers lack.\nThe barometer reads:\n-- Purdue: Six Big Ten titles (since \n 1991)\n-- Penn State: Three (since 1993)\n-- IU: One (1983)\nThe Boilermakers aim for their seventh title in 12 years. Second-place Penn State has finished better than fourth seven times since joining the Big Ten in 1993.\nPurdue coach Kristy Curry credited the current success to tradition and leadership from seniors Kelly Komara and Meadows, even without graduated All-Americans Camille Cooper and Katie Douglas.\n\"There\'s five (games) to go and room for error,\" Curry said Tuesday. \"It\'s treacherous. The team that can find consistency will emerge.\"\nDespite lack of a similar winning-Big Ten tradition, the Hoosiers could climb the standings during the final stretch, thanks to its four starting seniors.\n\"In the Big Ten, certainly when you look at Indiana with all those seniors, I think I picked them third in the conference this year,\" Wisconsin coach Jane Albright said. \"I think they\'re very good and capable"