More than a momentum swing

Coach Kristy Curry of the Purdue Boilermakers said IU finished last season on a momentum swing after winning the Big Ten Tournament. While that may be true, the Hoosiers have a lot on their minds concerning this season, not what happened in the past.\n"I believe in this group and I think they're going to be a really good team," coach Kathi Bennett said of her Hoosiers. "It's a belief this team has, and the confidence got started last year. But right now we have a lot to work on, we're so young, inexperienced, and these girls have never played together before."\nBennett said the success of the team would not come overnight. It could be quite a process for the Hoosiers to be a successful team in the Big Ten this season. \nThe Hoosiers will have to be a great defensive team to be competitive in the Big Ten, Bennett said. She added they will have to double team and be very effective at it. \n"We also need to do a much better job than we have been doing at taking care of the ball," Bennett said. "We have way too many turnovers and that's going to kill us."\nAside from what the team is struggling with, senior Kristen Bodine said this is the year for senior Allison Skapin and Jill Hartman to shine.\n"This is it for them and they've worked so hard and waited their turn," Bodine said. \nOne of the strengths the team will carry this season is their ability to score. Bodine once said in practice that she didn't think there were enough balls for the women to keep shooting and scoring with. \nHartman looks forward to scoring most against Purdue and Penn State and said it would be fun to try and shut down Penn State's gun.\nBennett, however, has a different feeling about playing Penn State and said it's going to be unbelievable there, with scores of people that the team won't be used to playing in front of.\nCoach Jane Albright of Wisconsin is no stranger to playing at an intimidating place and said playing at Assembly Hall will be one of their tough games.\n"History's proven that's a real tough place for us to play at for whatever reason," Albright said. "That's going to be a tough game."\nOnly time will tell the success of the women's basketball team this season. Bennett said every season is a new season, and a new time to believe.\n"You just keep hammering away," Bennett said. "I believe this group at the end of the year can do the same as last year's group."\nBennett said it sounds almost magical, but the belief this team has seems to prevail over their abilities on the court right now. \nThe seniors that laid the foundation for this year's team are gone, but they have renewed an energy and a belief that the team can accomplish anything. Bodine said the Hoosiers that the fans will see on the court are just now learning how to play with each other, but their inexperience will be in the shadows of their hopes and dreams.\n"We might take a couple steps back this year," Bodine said, "but we're going to be right there at the end of the year, where we were last year"