IU womens basketball opens exhibition season

Coming off a 19-win season and a third-round appearance in the women’s postseason NIT, the IU women’s basketball team will return to the court for its first exhibition game of the season against the Hoosier Lady Stars on Saturday at Assembly Hall. \nThe IU women’s basketball team will take on a look distinctly different from last year’s team. \nOnly four players from last year’s team are returning – senior Nikki Smith, juniors Kim Roberson and Whitney Thomas and sophomore Jamie Braun. The Hoosiers welcome junior Amber Jackson, a transfer from San Jose State. \n“We’ve been working a lot on the little things,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We’re focusing on talking on defense, boxing out and things like that. There are some things you can’t always control, like whether the shots go in, but we want to be on top of the things that we can control.”\nThis Hoosier squad is young and still looking for its identity, but Legette-Jack said good defense should be a trademark all season. \n“I think our identity will have to come from our defense,” she said. “We will defend our opponents and challenge on every possession.”\nWith a team that will rely on contributions from six freshmen, much of practice has been devoted to bringing the freshmen up to speed. \n“As a coach, the freshmen never come along fast enough,” Legette-Jack said. “They’re working hard, though, and every day they are getting better.”\nThe game against the Hoosier Lady Stars will be the first chance for the freshmen to represent IU on the court. \n“I don’t really know what to expect,” freshman center Georgia Follmer said. “It will be a new experience, and I’m incredibly excited. It’s my first college game and it’s a chance to show that I deserve to be out there.”\nWhile the game won’t count toward IU’s regular-season record, it is a chance for the Hoosiers to evaluate where they are as a team.\n“We’re looking to improve every practice and every game,” junior guard Kim Roberson said. “This is a chance for us to fine-tune for the regular season and get out all the kinks now.”\nFor a team that has been practicing for the last three weeks, the game will also be a welcome break from preseason routine\n“It will just be nice to get out there and play against someone other than ourselves,” Roberson said.