IU hopes to move from middle of Big Ten pack

With one month remaining in conference play, a log jam exists in the middle of the Big Ten standings. IU, Illinois and Michigan State are deadlocked in a three-way tie for fourth place. \nBut the Hoosiers (10-8, 4-3) could distance themselves from both teams by the end of the weekend, as they welcome Illinois to Assembly Hall Thursday, before heading to East Lansing to face Michigan State on Saturday.\nLooking ahead to the Big Ten tournament, IU head coach Sharon Versyp knows that winning these games will greatly affect her team's postseason chances.\n"A win tomorrow would separate us from the pack because there are about three or four teams that are dead center right now," Versyp said. "We're just preparing to be the best that we can for the postseason tournament. We're just trying to set a precedent for a winning attitude."\nSo far that attitude has carried over into the team's conference win column. Through seven games, the Hoosiers have already bested their season total for conference wins from last year. Another win would give the team five conference victories for the first time in three years, but Versyp isn't interested in that.\n"I'm a coach that doesn't look at what was in the past," she said. "I think we're just focused on getting better every day. And we're continuing to do that."\nIn the team's last game against Michigan on Jan. 22, the Hoosiers recorded their largest conference victory since 2001. However, Versyp expects the team to play even better against Illinois and its tough pressure defense. The Illini lead the Big Ten in field-goal percentage defense and defensive rebounds by forcing their opponents to take low percentage shots and preventing them from getting second-chance opportunities.\nJunior guard Leah Enterline knows that it will take perfect execution on offense to overcome the Illini defense.\n"We're gonna have to take care of the ball, get it into the post so they can establish their game," she said. "We're gonna have to make our shots. With the offenses that we run we get a lot of open shots, we just have to connect and knock them down."\nSophomore guard Niki Smith will be responsible for knocking down many of those open shots. The team leader in 3-pointers-made hopes the Hoosiers can overcome Illinois and boost their confidence going into the Michigan State game, and set themselves up for a strong finish in the Big Ten. \n"This is a huge game for us," Smith said. "We need to go out there and bring a lot of energy. (Illinois is) right above us in the Big Ten so this game is a major stepping stone for us. If we can just get this win it will give us so much momentum going into Michigan State"