On top of the state: IU finishes Boilers

IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack did something she has never done in her two years as women’s basketball coach. She beat Purdue. \nIt took four tries, but Legette-Jack and the Hoosiers finally bested the Boilermakers, earning a hard-fought 66-54 victory at Mackey Arena Monday night.\nLegette-Jack admitted she wasn’t aware of the intensity of the IU-Purdue rivalry when she became head coach last year, but after three losses to Purdue and now this win, she is well aware.\n“What a great in-state rivalry we’ve created here. I came here and I didn’t recognize what it was all about,” Legette-Jack said after the game. “Whitney (Thomas) and Kim (Roberson) tried to share with me the importance of this game. I saw first-hand last year, and tonight was our first opportunity to go out and be on the positive side.”\nAfter a 55-49 home loss to Purdue on Jan. 3, Legette-Jack questioned her team’s heart. \n“I think we let something slip away. We didn’t match their intensity,” she said. “I wanted to earn their respect by giving them a tough team to play, but we certainly didn’t do that then.”\nToday was a different story. From the start of the game, IU played like a team with revenge on its mind. \n“They came out and they wanted this game,” Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. “Indiana wanted it for IU, for their coaches and their team.”\nJunior forward Whitney Thomas set the tone early for the Hoosiers by crashing the boards. Thomas had already grabbed seven rebounds before the end of the first half.\nShe continued her relentless work on the glass, finishing with a game-high 18 rebounds to go with her team-high 17 points.\n“Our guards were attacking the basket and that just left it open for the post players,” Thomas said of her rebounding. “If they missed, we were going to be there to follow them.”\nSophomore guard Jamie Braun and junior guard Kim Roberson joined Thomas in double-figures, scoring 14 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman guard Ebony Jackson added eight points off the bench. \nThe formula for success was toughness and teamwork, something Legette-Jack hopes will become a staple of IU women’s basketball.\n“We may not ever have a go-to player, but we have a team that has heart,” she said. “When you sign up for Indiana women’s basketball, you’re signing up for the opportunity that on any given day you can be the star of our team. We have a bunch of role players right now that are saying it’s about the Indiana pride and we all stick together.”