Hoosiers complete season sweep of Illini with victory

The IU women’s basketball team is not scheduled to play Illinois again for the rest of the regular season. But when the two teams face off again next season, the Fighting Illini now know they have their work cut out for them.\nThe Hoosiers defeated the Illini 81-68 at Assembly Hall to earn their first sweep of a Big Ten opponent this season. For the Hoosiers, it was a freshman and a sophomore who stepped up. Freshman guard Jamie Braun finished with a career high 27 points and sophomore forward Kim Roberson followed up her 28-point performance in the first game against Illinois with a 24-point game Sunday.\n“It just happens to be (against Illinois) the nights that I’m on,” Roberson said. “We were able to push the ball and seize the opportunities.” \nIllinois came out in the first half with some hot shooting and took a 42-37 lead into the locker room. The Fighting Illini shot 50 percent from the field and went nine-for-nine at the free-throw line in the first half. But as hot as the Illini were in the first half, they hit a cold spell in the second, shooting 20 percent from the field, making only six field goals.\n“We were playing defense from the outside in because we were concerned about their outside shooting,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We changed it up and played it from the inside out. When (senior center) Sarah (McKay) went up to the high post they killed us inside because we were so small. We made the adjustment to have (sophomore forward) Whitney (Thomas) go out in the high post and Sarah could guard anything that came inside. Once we made that adjustment, we were able to stop their inside opportunities.”\nThe two teams traded baskets back and forth in the first seven minutes of the second half, until IU took its first lead since the first half at 56-55 with less than 13 minutes left in the game following a post shot by McKay.\nA couple minutes later, McKay came down with her ninth rebound of the game following a missed Illini shot. The rebound was the 400th career rebound for the senior from British Columbia.\n“It’s neat,” said McKay, who was unaware she had reached the mark until after the game. “It’s my fourth year so it’s good to get something in the big numbers.”\nMcKay finished the game with 13 rebounds and 12 points, earning her fifth double-double of the season.\nThe Illini were able to make another 2-point basket to take back the lead, but from then, the Hoosiers took over the game going on a 10-0 run to take a 66-57 lead with five minutes remaining. IU never looked back.\n“It was a great team win,” Legette-Jack said. “We talk about the word ‘oneness,’ and we’re not sure if it’s in the dictionary, but we certainly know we want to be a team that plays as one.”\nSunday was National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and the Hoosiers celebrated their win by going into the stands to greet their fans.\n“I certainly know we have a responsibility in our community, and the women and girls are in a surplus here at the games,” Legette-Jack said. “We want them to know they can touch us, feel us, be a part of us, and that they can, too, if they believe they can be a part of something this big.”