Thomas scores 21 in Hoosier win

Jori Davis came a rebound shy of a double-double in her first collegiate start and Whitney Thomas poured in 21 points as the IU women’s basketball team defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 74-56 Tuesday night at Assembly Hall. Thomas, a junior forward, also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists. \n“I feel like my teammates opened that up,” Thomas said after the game, referring to the Hoosiers’ first-half shooting performance.\nThe early minutes of the first half saw the Hoosiers break out of an early season shooting slump to shoot 61 percent from the floor in the frame. Senior guard Nikki Smith hit three quick three-pointers to push IU’s lead to 22-12 midway through the first half. \nSmith had 11 points in the first half and 14 total on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. \n“I did the easy part,” Smith said. “Jamie (Braun) and the post players really kicked the ball out, and I think that we just moved the ball really well, and it created a lot of open shots for me.”\nA key stat for the Hoosiers on Tuesday was rebounding. Though the team was muscled off the boards 49-42 in its season opener Friday against Albany, the Hoosiers commanded the glass Tuesday, grabbing 49 rebounds – 19 on the offensive end – to the Golden Lions’ 38. \n“That’s important,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “That’s called effort.”\nLegette-Jack singled out Thomas after the game for her rebounding. \n“She never looked at another team,” Legette-Jack said. “She saw an opportunity to play Indiana basketball, and she went after a lot of those rebounds.”\nTurnovers were again a problem for the Hoosiers – they gave up the ball 22 times Tuesday night – and Legette-Jack said holding onto the basketball is something the team will work on in practice. She said part of her problem with her team’s turnovers was that her team displayed a lack of urgency in trying to get the ball back off turnovers. \nLegette-Jack said she was happy with her team’s willingness to play team basketball and create shots for each other on offense, as indicated by the Hoosiers’ 15 assists. Legette-Jack did say she thought there were moments when her team could have scored more points had it not passed up good shot opportunities to try to feed teammates. \n“We were playing unselfish basketball today,” Legette-Jack said. “But sometimes they’ve gotta play selfish in order to play unselfish, and we’re going to show them how to do that.”\nLegette-Jack said she thinks her team is starting to gel early in the season, and she singled out Davis as “a catalyst” to that team growth. \nDavis, a freshman guard, said she was pleased with her first start, which came in the place of injured junior guard Kim Roberson. \n“It was exciting, but I kept my composure, and I think I did pretty well,” said Davis, who finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists while playing a team-high 32 minutes. \nLegette-Jack used the second half of Tuesday’s game to get her freshmen some playing time, and there were even moments when all five Hoosiers on the floor were rookies. Legette-Jack said her freshmen players’ performances pleased her, and she is excited for the possibilities that lie ahead for her team. \n“It’s difficult, but we’re challenging (the freshmen) because we think this is a very intelligent group of young women we’ve brought in, and we’re gonna push them and stretch them, and they’re gonna get it,” Legette-Jack said. “They are our future, and I’ll tell you what, the future’s bright here at Indiana.”