Trying to take control of their destiny

With its NCAA Tournament hopes likely resting on a Big Ten Tournament championship, the IU women’s basketball team will make the short trip up State Route 37 to Indianapolis for the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday. \nEach team in the Big Ten has at least five losses, which means there is no clear-cut favorite to win what should be a wide-open tournament.\n“It makes it more exciting because there isn’t one team who you think is going to dominate the whole entire tournament,” senior guard Nikki Smith said.\nThe first test for the No. 6 seed Hoosiers (17-13, 10-8) will be No. 11 seeded Northwestern (5-25, 1-17), a team IU beat twice in the regular season. After an 84-53 victory on the road in both teams’ conference opener and a 74-58 win at Assembly Hall on the Wildcats’ return trip, IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she is keeping her team focused on the upcoming third game. \n“We’re going there and we’re not taking anyone lightly,” she said. “It’s hard to beat somebody three times in a row, I understand that. So, we’re going to have to have a perfect game.”\nLeading the Hoosiers is second-team All-Big Ten performer Jamie Braun, a sophomore combo guard who \naverages 15.3 points per game overall, and 16.3 points per game in Big \nTen contests. \n“It’s always nice to get accomplishments,” Braun said. “We’re not done yet, so we have a lot more games to play and I’m just thinking about that.”\nJunior forward Whitney Thomas joined Braun on the All-Big Ten second team, and junior guard/forward Kim Roberson made the conference’s All-Defensive Team after finishing second in the conference with 2.7 steals per game. \nThe Wildcats finished last in the Big Ten this year, despite the solid play of freshman center Amy Jaeschke, who averages 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. \n“We have to know where she is at all times, and we can’t let her go off for 20-plus points,” Thomas said. “We have to contain her and keep her off \nthe boards.”\nIn the Hoosiers’ 74-58 victory in Bloomington Feb. 7, Braun anchored IU’s offensive attack with 16 points. Overall, Braun averaged 18 points per game over both contests with the Wildcats. \nIf the Hoosiers do get past Northwestern, their second-round opponent will be No. 3 seed Purdue, an in-state rival with whom IU split two games this year. The Hoosiers fell at home by six points on Jan. 3 before taking the return trip in West Lafayette by a 66-54 score just 11 days later. \n“Survive to move on, that’s our theory right now,” Legette-Jack said. “We’re going to survive the first game. If we can survive it, then we play Purdue and we’ll have to find a way to beat a team that won the championship last year. Then if we can survive that we move \non again.”