Team drops first game

The Reebok Lady Stars brought its celebrity-studded lineup Wednesday night to Assembly Hall, much to the dismay of coach Kathi Bennett and the IU women's basketball team. WNBA standouts Katie Douglas and Ukari Figgs scorched the defensively-troubled Hoosiers, as the touring team of former college and professional players outlasted IU 84-83 in an exhibition game.\nBesides showing that Purdue products Douglas and Figgs can still knock-off IU, the night game proved to Bennett that her team needs to improve its transition defense, sloppy passing and ability to put away opponents.\n"They're very experienced," Bennett said about the Stars, who in recent weeks have pasted Butler 112-81 and Valparaiso 68-56. "They've been there, they know it and can play really loose."\nThe Stars kept the Hoosiers' outside shooting quiet during the game with a stifling zone defense. Douglas, who led Reebok with 16 points, pulled her team ahead whenever IU threatened. The Stars appeared fatigued in the second half, but wouldn't allow IU to extend a lead past nine points.\nThe Hoosiers relied on leading scorer senior Jill Chapman to take advantage of Reebok's smaller lineup. But when she didn't dominate the boards, the Hoosiers fell apart. By halftime, Chapman led IU with 13 points and no fouls. \nThe score stayed close during the night. With four seconds remaining and IU losing 84-81, junior point guard Kristen Bodine caught the ball on the perimeter. Rather than trying a three-pointer, she drove to the basket and settled for a short jumper. \nSenior shooting guard Heather Cassady fouled Figgs, who missed her free throws, but the Hoosiers could not come up with another shot.\n"We were up eight or 10 points with seven minutes to go and we made a nice run," Bennett said. "Last year we did the same thing. We don't put teams away. We don't have that killer instinct."\nReebok also opened the game quicker than the Hoosiers, as the Stars burst to an 11-6 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the first half.\nThe Stars commanded the boards early, as former Illinois star Ashley Berggren and Douglas snatched eight rebounds. \nA couple three-pointers by a hustling Cassady kept the Hoosiers in the game. She ended the night with six points in 35 minutes. \n"We have to get Heather more shots," Bennett said. "I think that was the other thing I saw tonight. We have to get her more shots. There's no doubt we have to work on that."\nIn the second half, the Hoosiers led by as many as nine with 10 minutes left as they picked up the slack in rebounding with 56 total rebounds.\nAfter being pulled in the first half with two points, senior power forward Erin McGinnis scored 11 points in the second half. She pulled the Hoosiers ahead with 13 minutes left at 53-52 with a short jumper.\n"I thought she really came around and that's something we talked about -- overcoming, not hanging your head," Bennett said. " She gives me a lot of gray hairs.\n"She passes some great ones, and I'd like her to be tighter with the ball still."\nStill, Reebok didn't let the Hoosiers run away with the lead as the team completed its free throws and remained tough on the inside. \nIn the end, Douglas and her fellow WNBA stars were too much for IU.\n"We've played each other three years now, four years, and I respect her as a player," Cassady said of Douglas. "I think she's tremendous. I've never beaten her"