Rivalry gets another chapter

Saturday, Dec. 7, the women's basketball team knocked the Georgetown Hoyas down from an undefeated 5-0. Four days later, they put a stop to the 15 game home winning streak of the women's team at North Texas. It only seems right that their next victory should come against Purdue.\n"Those two wins were huge," freshman Brigett Branson said. "Winning those games was an accomplishment, and I think this would be even bigger if we could pull it off."\nPulling off a win won't be easy for the 5-2 Hoosiers who will be playing against the 6-0 Boilermakers Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Purdue is currently off to their best start since the 1992-93 season. Coach Kathi Bennett knows the game will be a challenge, she said.\n"It will give us a taste of what to expect from the Big Ten season," Bennett said. "What we really need is everyone to play well and play well consistently. It will be a tough game for us."\nThe last time the Hoosiers and Boilermakers met was in the Big Ten Tournament, which was in Indianapolis as well. IU's 55-41 victory over Purdue sent the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten Championship game.\nSenior Allison Skapin said she remembers it well and it felt wonderful to beat a team that they had lost to so many times before.\n"To win and play that hard, it was an unbelievable feeling," Skapin said. \nIt will be rough to beat the undefeated and No. 6 Boilermakers, but IU does have a few things on their side. For starters, Bennett is 4-0 for games played in Indianapolis. Since her arrival at IU three years ago, Bennett has been victorious over two top-ten teams in the nation, three top-15 teams and five top-25 teams. \nOn the downside, senior Kristen Bodine said she's noticed that the majority of players who played a lot of minutes in their win last year are now gone. Bodine's injury last season prevented her from playing in last year's game. It will be her first game against the Boilermakers.\n"If we just play our game, we can beat Purdue," Bodine said. "We first have to believe we can beat them, then carry that attitude on the court for Saturday."\nSaturday's game will be a reunion for many 2002 Indiana All-Stars. IU's Branson and freshman Cyndi Valentin will be up against their former teammates on the All-Star team: freshmen Carol Duncan, Sharika Webb and Missy Taylor of Purdue.\nThere's a lot at stake when these two teams take the floor together in head-to-head competition. Sophomore Jenny DeMuth, who leads the Hoosiers averaging 15.3 points a game, said the intensity of the team has to improve before they can pull off the win.\n"It will take a great deal of intensity to defeat Purdue," DeMuth said. "If we come out intense from the outset, we can compete with Purdue."\nFreshman Angela Hawkins has been an asset to the team in many of their victories this season. She has already recorded two double-doubles and her 18-rebounds against North Texas was the second-highest single game total for a freshman ever at Indiana.\nTheir last few games have been rough, but the Hoosiers pulled off wins even when the odds were against them. They look to continue their winning streak this weekend against Purdue.\nSkapin said that win or lose, the team would be able to see where they measure up against another Big Ten school.\n"Last year it was towards the end of the season, and we'd had Big Ten play the entire year," Skapin said. "It was just wonderful when we won. We can't wait to try and recreate that on Saturday"