IU looks to rebound after 2 close losses

In only their fifth game of Big Ten play, the IU women's basketball team can match last year's season total for wins in the conference.\nThe Hoosiers (8-7, 2-2 Big Ten) recorded three wins in the Big Ten last season. Two of those wins came against Northwestern (4-10, 0-4 Big Ten), who welcomes IU to Evanston, Ill. Thursday night.\nThe Hoosiers are coming off two close losses to opponents ranked in the Top 25, including No. 12 Purdue and No. 17 Minnesota. Both losses came by a combined total of 10 points.\n"A win would be huge, especially coming off of two home losses," senior guard Cyndi Valentin said. "We really need a victory to get us back on track. We have to come out hard and play together. Against Minnesota we came out flat and that really hurt us."\nAgainst Minnesota Monday, the Hoosiers struggled in the first half and fell behind early. Despite a strong second half, the slow start put the Hoosiers in a hole they couldn't climb out of.\nWhile Northwestern is winless in the Big Ten, senior forward Jenny DeMuth knows the team's intensity level will need to be high tomorrow for the Hoosiers to be successful. Playing hard and bringing a lot of energy to the entire game will be the keys to victory, she said. \n"I think tomorrow is a great opportunity for us," DeMuth said. "I think we're ready to go in there and play hard. We will approach it like we did Minnesota and Purdue. You can't take Northwestern lightly."\nIU head coach Sharon Versyp definitely is not taking Northwestern lightly. Because the Wildcats are winless in the Big Ten and have dropped their last five games, Versyp is more anxious than confident. She knows Northwestern will be hungry for a win. \nBut rather than focusing on the opponent's record, Versyp is more concerned with making sure her team is at the top of its game. She said that will require playing strong team defense, pulling down rebounds and running in transition. \n"Our focus right now is just to get better every day and to improve ourselves," Versyp said. "We don't talk about winning and losing quite a bit. Sometimes you can't control all factors, but we just want to get better every day"