Hoosiers hoping to end mid-season funk

For IU women's basketball coach Kathi Bennett and the Hoosiers, it seems as if everyone is ranked these days. In their last 10 contests, six have been against the nation's top 25 programs -- all of which have been against Big Ten schools. The Hoosiers can add one more ranked team to the list as they get ready to take on conference foe No. 25 Penn State tonight at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.\nIU (9-12, Big Ten 2-9) is coming off a 78-46 loss to No. 2 Ohio State Sunday. Indiana fell behind quickly with a number of long scoring droughts. The 22-2 Buckeyes never looked back.\nThe Nittany Lions come into the contest with a 14-8 record overall and a 9-2 mark in conference action. Seniors Tanisha Wright, the Big-Ten's leading scorer with 19.9 points per game, and Jess Strom, second in the Big Ten in assists (5.0 assists per game) anchor a PSU squad that has won eight of their last 10 games.\nIn the first meeting between the two teams this year, the Nittany Lions were able to run the table on IU, handing the Hoosiers their first home loss for the season, 65-44. Juniors Cyndi Valentin and Angela Hawkins carried the cream and crimson with 32 of the team's 44 points, but their efforts weren't enough as PSU ran away with the game in the second half. \nThe last time out for Penn State, No. 22 Purdue stood in the way and knocked off the Lady Lions 50-44, the lowest scoring output on the year for PSU. Wright was a non-factor in the game scoring a season-low six points because she was plagued with foul trouble. Penn State was able to close an 11-point deficit down to four late in the second half, but the furious second half rally wasn't enough to contain the Boilermakers. \nBennett said the consistency throughout the entire game will be the key to a victory. IU has been consistent in playing one full half of basketball this season, especially on the defensive end; however the intensity hasn't carried over into the second frame.\n"We're so close," Bennett said in a previous Indiana Daily Student article. "We have stayed in the games against top teams like Michigan State but we have to play 40 minutes of basketball. The first half intensity is great and we need to keep fighting and bring it over into the second half -- we're close."\nThe Hoosiers will wrap up their three-game road trip Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill., when they take on the Northwestern Wildcats for their final road game of the season. They return to Bloomington Feb. 17 for a non-conference battle against Texas A&M Corpus Christi.