WEEKEND UPDATE: IU women stun third-seeded Minnesota to advance to Big Ten semifinals

INDIANAPOLIS — With Friday's 61-46 upset of No. 3 seed Minnesota the IU women's basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament for only the third time in school history. \nThe sixth-seeded Hoosiers will face No. 2 seed Purdue Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse. During the regular season both teams claimed overtime victories on their opponent's homecourt. Purdue won 61-56 in Bloomington Jan. 5, while the Hoosiers upset the then-No. 10 Boilermakers 63-61 in West Lafayette Feb. 19.\nIn defeating No. 20 Minnesota, IU claimed its second win over a top-25 opponent in two weeks, strengthening its case for an NCAA Tournament bid.\nBut IU head coach Sharon Versyp insisted that, while she believes the Hoosiers should be considered for the tournament, the focus of the team rests solely on its next opponent.\n"I think we've done pretty well this year and have made some big steps," she said. "This group is deserving of something, but right now, it's the postseason and the Big Ten Tournament. That's all that matters."\nFrom the opening tip, the Hoosiers played as though they had something to prove. Senior guard Cyndi Valentin scored the game's first basket by boldly slicing through the heart of the Minnesota defense for a lay-up that sparked the Hoosiers to an early 10-2 lead.\nOn the other end of the floor, stifling defense caused the flustered Gophers to commit several costly turnovers and allowed IU to take a 25-20 lead into halftime.\nFreshman forward Whitney Thomas played with poise beyond her years, recording eight points and six rebounds in the first half, while holding second-team All-Big Ten forward Jamie Broback scoreless during the first 20 minutes. \n"I've been working on staying with the post player," Thomas said. "I just stayed right up with her."\nBroback finally got on the board by scoring the first points of the second half. But the Hoosiers responded with an 11-0 run to open up a 36-22 lead. After a nearly seven-minute drought, Minnesota scored, but its struggle to penetrate the Hoosiers' zone defense continued. The Gophers' offensive woes caused them to shoot a paltry 30 percent from the field, while committing 20 turnovers. \n"We flustered them a little bit and then it just builds," Versyp said. "That's usually what Minnesota does to us. They've caused us a lot of problems before, and they still did cause us problems. But I think we flustered them a little bit more."\nWhile the Hoosiers suffered bouts of sloppy play and missed lay-ups, they managed to shoot 45 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. \nSophomore Nikki Smith consistently found holes in the Minnesota defense, allowing her several open looks at the basket. Smith tied her career best with a game-high 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. \n"Cyndi (Valentin) does a great job setting up shooters," she said. "I know my role and when I'm open, I'm going to shoot. Luckily, tonight I got some open looks and knocked them down."\nDespite a seemingly dominant performance, the Hoosiers are not allowing themselves to get overconfident. The team knows a battle awaits it against Purdue, Smith said, and it cannot get distracted by looking ahead to a possible NCAA Tournament berth.\n"We're really not thinking about the NCAA Tournament right now," she said. "Purdue is a really hard team. We had two really tough games against them. We're just really excited and enjoying this win and then tomorrow we'll work on beating Purdue"