IU starts slow, finishes strong to defeat Penn St.

Coming off a loss to Illinois, a team that hadn’t yet won a game in the Big Ten, one would think the Hoosiers would come out in their next game aiming to rid their tongues of the taste of the defeat.

For most of the game it looked as though the Hoosiers might drop their second consecutive conference game. But IU found a way to come from behind to beat Penn State 65-55 on Thursday.

The Hoosiers (15-4, 8-2) got off to a sluggish start in the first half, with IU down by as many as nine points with 10:40 remaining.

But freshman guard Ashlee Mells sparked the team.

Mells and the Hoosiers then proceeded to go on a 15-0 run, picking up their first lead of the night along the way. Mells scored seven points on the run.

IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said Mells was just the spark plug IU needed, also giving a nod to sophomore guard Whitney Lindsay, or “Little Whitney.”

“(Mells) brought energy. We needed some kind of energy,” Legette-Jack said. “We didn’t need anyone with a high IQ on the basketball court. We just needed someone with no fear that was going to attack the gaps. She really brought the energy for these guys to feed off of. In the second half, we were able to sustain it. She was tremendous, and so was Little Whitney. Little Whitney came off the bench and really ignited us well.

“Everyone on this team knows their roles and accepts their roles. The one thing about this team, we only care about the ‘W’ at the end of the game.”

After the run, the score stood at 26-20, but the Nittany Lions fired back, using a run of their own to take back a 29-26 advantage at halftime.

After a strong first half, turnovers plagued Penn State in the second frame, as the Nittany Lions lost the ball 12 times.

“I thought we were aggressive early on, especially in transition, and I thought we were aggressive on the boards,” said Penn State coach Coquese Washington. “I thought late in the game, especially in the second half, our turnovers were a big factor and I thought Indiana, in particular, Amber Jackson did a good job on the boards and getting some easy baskets down low.”

The second half went more of the Hoosiers’ way. IU took the lead for good, 38-36, thanks to junior point guard Jamie Braun’s 3-point basket with 14:41 remaining in the game.

IU had its lead up to as many as 11 on two occasions during the second half. In contrast, the closest the Nittany Lions got to the Hoosiers was an eight-point deficit.

Senior Amber Jackson led IU with a team-high 15 points. She also pulled down 12 rebounds, half of which were on offense.

Though Jackson said this was a good win to have after a disappointing loss to Illinois, she mentioned this game was just a small part of what they plan to accomplish this season.

“We have a goal to get to the NCAA Tournament. None of us have been there, and all the seniors are really dedicated on that goal,” she said. “We know its one game at a time. After the losing to Illinois we really had to come back and focus and practice and realize that we have to come back against Penn State to start a new streak from here.”