IU's tournament run ends with loss at South Dakota State

On Monday, IU women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack referred to her team as the sensational seven.\nBut on Thursday night, seven dressed players were not enough for the Hoosiers, as they fell to South Dakota State in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament 60-53 in front of a sold-out crowd in Brookings, S.D.\n“The magnitude of this intensity, with the student body and the way it supports (their team) – I tell you I wish we could bottle the students here up and take them back to Bloomington, because they are fantastic,” Legette-Jack said at the post-game press conference.\nSophomore forward Whitney Thomas recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Thomas was one of four Hoosiers to finish the game scoring in double figures. Junior guard Nikki Smith led the team with 12 points.\nThe Hoosiers jumped out to a 24-11 lead 12 minutes into the game, but the Jackrabbits went on a 12-0 run to cut the Hoosiers’ lead to one. IU held onto a 31-28 lead at halftime.\n“That’s our tempo,” Legette-Jack said. “The tempo was ours in the second half as well, we just didn’t make our shots.”\nBoth teams kept even with each other through the second half. With two minutes to go in the game, the Hoosiers led 53-52 when Thomas was called for her fifth foul on a shot by Megan Vogel. Vogel made one of the two ensuing free throws to tie the game. After an IU turnover, Vogel scored on a layup for the last of her game-leading \n14 points.\n“We knew Megan was fantastic,” Legette-Jack said. “We knew it would be difficult to contain her, and our goal was to try to contain her but not to put a lot of attention on her. They have seven players that really stepped up on them.”\nSophomore guard Kim Roberson picked up her fifth foul on the rebound of a missed shot by senior center Sarah McKay, and the Hoosiers had to play the last minute of the game without any reserves.\nThe Jackrabbits made five free throws in the last minute of the game to take the win and advance to the quarterfinals of the WNIT.\n“I don’t think we ran out of gas,” Thomas said. “We just ran out of players.”