Lady Hoosiers dispel Badgers

Redemption is sweet. \nIt's been 25 days since the IU women's basketball team celebrated a victory.\nPlaying at Assembly Hall against Wisconsin on Thursday night, the Hoosiers finally put an end to their five-game losing streak in a 83-56 win against the Badgers. \nInstead of playing as the team that lost its last five games, the Hoosiers stayed patient and played smart basketball for the game's 40 minutes -- fitting the mold of the team IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack promised when she signed up for the job. \n"We finally got our swagger back," Legette-Jack said. "We played with a lot of intensity, we played with a lot of purpose and we played with the energy of confidence." \nThe Hoosiers opened with a 39-11 first-half run and never looked back. In that run, IU shot 62 percent from the field. \nFor Wisconsin, making a bucket simply did not come easy. The Badgers went scoreless until hitting their first field goal of the game with 14 minutes remaining in the first half, ending a 19-0 Hoosier run. \n"The Indiana start was amazing," said Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone. "I shouldn't say surprising -- it was amazing. They came out with a load of guns and sharp teeth and we dug a whole that was obviously pretty substantial. Their team was hungry and thirsty for a win, and they got it and deserved it today." \nAfter the first few minutes of the opening tipoff, the Hoosiers hustle and intensity paid off as they never allowed the Badgers to get into any type of rhythm. \nIn the first 15 minutes of the game, junior guard Nikki Smith led the Hoosiers with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers. Senior center Sarah McKay also added her third double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.\nSmith led the Hoosiers with 22 points.\nBy the end of the first half, the Hoosiers led by a dominant 46-20 margin after forcing the Badgers to 27.6 percent field-goal shooting. Smith and McKay's point totals alone matched the Badger's score, with each player tallying 13 first-half points for the Hoosiers. \n"It's just getting back to the things that we need to do to win," McKay said. "I'll do what I can to help us get the 'W.' It's just getting back to playing Indiana basketball and, like (Legette-Jack) said, we're back." \nSloppy play dictated the first eight minutes of the second half. But shortly thereafter, the Hoosiers again found their stride and eventually extended the lead to 80-43 with five minutes to go in the game. \nDuring their five-game losing streak, the \nHoosiers never shot higher than 40 percent from the field, but Thursday they broke out of their shooting funk, shooting 47.6 percent from the field.\n"What we've been doing the last few games is making the pass and admiring the pass," Legette-Jack said. "Now, we're making the pass and we're a moving target. It's very difficult to stop a moving target." \nBy the end of the game, IU forced Wisconsin to 20 turnovers to the Hoosiers' 12. The Badgers also managed to shoot just 30.2 percent from the field and 18 percent from beyond the arc. \nOn Feb. 4 the Hoosiers will look to carry over their intensity they displayed against Wisconsin as they play host to a Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-9, 5-4) team that has gone 5-5 in its last 10 games.\nBut playing Minnesota isn't even on Legette-Jack's radar. \n"When we started winning a lot more games, we started looking ahead and saying we should win this game or we should win that game," Legette-Jack said. "The only thing that matters to us right now is our practice on Friday. We're just not old enough as a coaching staff or as a team to look ahead, and when we did that, we stumbled"