Coach: ‘Ladies became women’ with win

Despite senior forward Whitney Thomas and sophomore guard Jori Davis going a combined 3-for-19 from the field and combining for just 15 points, the IU women’s basketball team overcame a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Miami (Fla.) 69-54 in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

In the second half, the Hoosiers (5-2) outscored the Hurricanes 41-22 and shot 52 percent from the field.

IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she thought the Hurricanes played their best in the first half.

“I felt they gave us all they had” Legette-Jack said. “I thought they gave us their best punch. I told our team coming into the second half just to be ready and to play our game.”

After winning MVP honors at the Hilton Concord Classic in San Francisco last weekend, senior forward Amber Jackson continued her string of strong performance, leading the Hoosiers with 17 points and 12 rebounds, the sixth double-double of her career.

Senior guard Kim Roberson and junior Jamie Braun also finished in double figures for the Hoosiers. Roberson ended with 15 points and six rebounds, a Braun added 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

After a meager offensive performance in the first half, Jackson said she knew her team would come out better in the second.

“We shot very poorly in the first half,” she said. “We played our worst basketball all season, and we were only down four. We knew we could get better, we just needed to match their intensity.”

The Hoosiers matched that intensity by using an 8-0 run to start the second half and took the lead. They also had another run of 8-0 and a run of 14-0 to put them up 18 points with 4:08 left.

The Hoosiers held Miami’s Shenise Johnson to just eight points – more than five points below her average – on 3-of-16 shooting from the field. After the Hurricanes shot 47 percent from the field in the first half, they only shot 21 percent in the second.

The Hoosiers finished their five-game road trip winning four of five and on a four-game win streak. Playing on the road was something that troubled the Hoosiers last year, but so far they have gotten off to a successful start.

Legette-Jack said this was a growth experience for her team.

“I think our ladies became women on this road trip,” she said.

Jackson added that the success can carry over into the rest of the season.

“It’s fantastic what we’ve done so far on the road,” Jackson said. “We just have to keep focusing on the task at hand.”

After taking care of business on the road, the Hoosiers will play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Assembly Hall against in-state foe Butler.

“We did what we wanted to on the road,” Davis said. “Now we must come back and protect our home court.”