IU to face non-conference foe

For IU coach Kathi Bennett, the 2004-2005 campaign has been a story of night and day. The home team seems unstoppable. The road team can't get their act together.\nIU (10-13, Big Ten 3-10) sports a 7-3 record at home -- identical to its non-conference mark. Away from Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers are at 3-10 -- identical to their conference record. According to the numbers, the Hoosiers look favorable tonight as they play host to non-conference foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.\nIU returns to Bloomington following a three-game conference road swing. Junior guard Kali Kullberg and the Hoosiers are excited to wrap up the year at home beginning at 7 p.m.\n"Coming back home is great," Kullberg said. "We really need to start off this home stretch with a big win against some great competition in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi."\nWith only four games left in the season, the Hoosiers take a break from Big Ten action as they take on their first non-conference opponent since their victory against Virginia Commonwealth in December. \n"This game will be a good way for us to tune up for the remainder of the season," sophomore forward Carrie Smith said. "With a non-conference game before the Big Ten Tournament, we can work on things and improve in areas that we probably wouldn't during a conference game."\nIU enters tonight's meeting coming off a nail-biting victory at Northwestern Sunday, 54-53. The cream and crimson took advantage of some late blunders on the Wildcats' part and sealed a victory after an NU overthrow at mid-court with under five seconds left in regulation play. \nThe Hoosiers were led by Smith's career-high 15 in addition to a team-high 19 points for junior Cyndi Valentin. Smith came off the bench on fire, shooting 6-8 from the field including a key three-point basket with 1:44 left in the game to bring IU within one point.\nBennett was pleased with the boost Smith gave the squad coming off the bench and taking advantage of her opportunity.\n"Carrie (Smith) was phenomenal," Bennett said. "She stepped up when we needed her to." \nIntensity has been an issue with the Hoosiers as of late. IU has played very aggressive basketball against some noteworthy teams -- but only for one half. Bennett was impressed after Sunday's victory as her squad played hard during the entire 40 minutes.\n"The team showed a lot of heart (on Sunday)," Bennett said. "They never stop playing hard. It feels good to get this win. Hopefully, we'll build on it and continue to play like this the rest of the season."\nThe Islanders of Corpus Christi (17-5) have already tasted a piece of the Big Ten twice this season. Both affairs ended in defeat for the Islanders as they fell to Purdue and Michigan State. \nLeading the way for the Islanders this season has been junior Terra Andrews (15.9 points per game), Nicole Duncan (10.5 ppg), and Lindsey Van Dorn (10.0 ppg).\n-- Contact Staff Writer Matt Ostrega at mostrega@indiana.edu.