Struggling Hoosiers looking to turn around 3-game Big Ten losing streak

Losing six of the last seven games, the IU women's basketball team will look to bounce back into the win column as they face the Fighting Illini (11-6; Big Ten, 3-4) at 8 p.m. in Champaign, Ill.\nTheir last time out, the Hoosiers fell to a struggling Michigan team, 63-61, in a seesaw battle that saw 23 lead changes and 14 ties. In the final moments of regulation, with the Hoosiers down 62-61, the team chose to play pressure defense and tried to force a turnover rather than foul and challenge the Wolverines from the line.\n"I take full responsibility for not fouling on that last series," said IU coach Kathi Bennett. "We wanted to pressure the ball and get a steal, but we should have fouled with the clock running down."\nDespite the loss IU finally received some solid offensive production from a different crew. Freshmen Nikki Smith scored a career-high 11 points, while sophomore Leah Enterline added 11 more points in addition to five assists. A season high 28 points were scored off the bench against the Wolverines.\n"That game (against Michigan) our bench really stepped up and we were able to go pretty deep," junior forward Bridget Branson said. "That was a big factor that kept us in the game, and if we can keep that up then things will turn around and we'll see good things."\nIllinois will enter the contest seeking to end a two-game skid of its own. The Fighting Illini are most recently coming off a loss at the hands of No. 12 Minnesota. Led by seniors Angelina Williams (19.2 ppg) and Tiffanie Guthrie (16.6 ppg), Illinois gave the ranked Golden Gophers a run for their money, but to no avail as the Fighting Illini fell, 80-68.\nThe Hoosiers will look to slow down the high-powered offensive tandem of Williams and Guthrie Thursday night. Sophomore center Jamey Chapman believes the key to Thursday night's game will be to play a solid team defense.\n"There is going to be a lot of help-and-recover kind of defense," Chapman said. "We need to get off the screens and guard the (curl sets), and I think we'll be able to get it done." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu