IU set for tilt with University of Dayton Sunday

Following the IU women's basketball team's 85-51 win against Valparaiso University Wednesday, a question was posed to IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack about taking momentum from the win into the Hoosiers' 6 p.m. game Sunday against the University of Dayton. But Legette-Jack just wanted to enjoy the win against Valpo, saying her team wouldn't start preparing for the Flyers until Friday.\n"(Dayton coach) Jim Jabir is a fantastic coach who's been coaching a very long time," Legette-Jack said. "My assistant coach (Vera Jones) used to be the assistant coach there, and that's all I want to know right now. We're going to enjoy this win and smell these roses because it's been a while since these kids had roses."\nThe roses come in the form of a 3-0 record for the Hoosiers, including an upset win last weekend against the then-No. 15 University of Kentucky. In each game they've played, three different IU players have led the Hoosiers in scoring. \n"We are the 11-headed monster," Legette-Jack said, using a term to describe her squad, whose roster this season runs 11-deep. "We're going have to rely on everybody to step up, and right now everybody is."\nIn Wednesday's game, five Hoosiers scored in double figures. Freshman Michelle Carr finished with eight points, two points short of becoming the sixth IU player in the game to record double digits.\n"I think it shows confidence that everyone's willing to put the shot up, no matter who it is," said senior Carrie Smith, who had 10 points against Valparaiso. "Everybody gets some playing time and everyone takes some shots."\nIn addition to Smith, senior guard Leah Enterline, junior guard Nikki Smith, sophomore forward Whitney Thomas and freshman guard Jamie Braun all scored in double figures Wednesday. Enterline led the way with 17 points, tying her career high.\n"It's just fun for us to play because if one person is having an off-night, there are three or four other people there to pick them up," Smith said.\nBut it's not only offense the Hoosiers are using to defeat their opponents. Just one look at the scores from IU's three games show how tough their defense is. In their first game, against Wake Forest University, IU allowed only 53 points. As it turned out, that's the most they've allowed this season, with opponents scoring only 51 points in the other two games. Even after allowing Valpo to shoot 50 percent in the first half and score 40 points Wednesday night, IU's defense stepped up in the second half and the Crusaders shot 2-for-30 in the second half for only 11 points.\nBefore Wednesday's game, Legette-Jack said one of the keys to stopping the Crusaders would be to shut down their center Tamra Braun. The Hoosiers did just that, keeping the 6-foot-5 center scoreless, something Legette-Jack said was a testament to IU's post players.\n"You come in their paint, and it's dangerous," Legette-Jack said. "Even when I play pickup with them, I'm a little nervous."\nWhen the Hoosiers do start to look at Dayton, they will be looking at a team that has the capability to score points. In last Saturday's game against the University of Memphis, the Flyers put up 96 points. But for now, Legette-Jack just wants to enjoy IU's recent success.\n"We're going to enjoy this right now and not move too fast with our success," she said. "But we're not going to stay too long either. Right now our kids need to celebrate this win, hug each other, laugh and talk about whatever they talk about in the locker room. We're going to concentrate on Dayton on Friday"