Hoosiers upset No. 15 Wildcats, garner Women's Sports Foundation Classic title

The "11-headed monster," formerly known as the IU women's basketball team, started the Felisha Legette-Jack era in dramatic fashion this weekend.\nCompeting in Lexington, Ky., at the 2006 Women's Sports Foundation Classic, the Hoosiers upset No. 15 University of Kentucky 54-51 to take the tournament's title.\n"Our kids played great defense; they played together," first-year coach Legette-Jack said. "We believed that if we stayed together and continued with an 11-headed monster, good things can happen. One thing we know, we're a better team when we all stick together."\nFreshman Jamie Braun led IU with 18 points in the team's first win against a top-15 ranked opponent since its 63-61 victory against then-No. 10 Purdue on Feb. 19. Braun earned Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament and scored the final seven points for her team in its upset victory.\n"It started off with the team just getting me open to get some good-looking, decent shots," Braun said. "I kind of started feeling it from there."\nThe Hoosiers entered the game after handily defeating Wake Forest 75-53 Friday night in their first game of the tournament, where Braun added another 10 points. While IU had no trouble beating the Demon Deacons, Sunday's first half was full of runs.\nAfter falling behind early 13-4 to the Wildcats, the Hoosiers quickly made up ground as they capped a 7-0 run. As soon as IU was in the game again, Kentucky went on a 12-0 run of its own and finished the first half with a 32-26 lead.\nAt the end of the first half, the Hoosiers were shooting 31 percent from the field and were only 1-for-9 from behind the arc. The second half told a different story.\nSenior Carrie Smith and sophomore Kim Roberson hit consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half to tie the game at 32. After both teams traded baskets, a layup from Leah Enterline gave IU its first lead of the game with 17:06 to go. The Hoosiers wouldn't trail for the rest of the game.\nThroughout the final five minutes of Sunday's game, both teams exchanged baskets on several occasions, but Braun's two consecutive 3-pointers gave the Hoosiers a 53-49 lead with 1:56 remaining to seal the victory against Kentucky.\nAfter shooting 47.5 percent from the field against Wake Forest, the Hoosiers finished Sunday's game shooting 31 percent and were out-rebounded 53-44. But because of the defensive effort IU put up throughout the game, the Wildcats only made 24.6 percent of their field goals and shot 14.7 percent in the second half.\n"It was a collective effort of tenacious defense, communication, playing with passion and intensity, that's for sure," Legette-Jack said. "We're going to celebrate this win because you know what, wins aren't always guaranteed. But we certainly know that this is only one game, and we will continue to get better."\nRoberson said the defensive effort of the Hoosiers put the team in a great position to win the game. She said IU's defense helped get Kentucky out of rhythm and disrupted a lot of its shots, which kept the \nWildcats' shooting percentage low.\nLegette-Jack added that while Braun had an important game statistically, Smith and sophomore Whitney Thomas were instrumental in winning the game.\n"Whitney Thomas really played with everything," Legette-Jack said. "She had five points and four rebounds, but without her, it wouldn't be possible. Carrie (Smith) did a fantastic job of imposing herself on the inside, even though she's undersized. Our inside game was fantastic, not because we're bigger but because we weren't going to be denied."\nLegette-Jack said Kentucky's No. 15 ranking did not concern the Hoosiers as they entered the game.\n"We're going to play them whether they're ranked or not," Legette-Jack said. "We don't really worry about (Kentucky's ranking) because if we do that, if we think about them as a ranked team, we're not going to be better than them. If we concentrate on IU, I think we'll be better off."\nThe Hoosiers play Valparaiso at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Assembly Hall. Legette-Jack said that while she isn't taking anything away from Sunday's upset, the team is already focusing on Wednesday's game. \n"We left it all on that court," Legette-Jack said. "I'm just really proud of them, and if we can stay together, you just never know how good we can be"