Hoosiers' waiting game begins

The IU women’s basketball team was still filled with hurt and heartache 30 minutes after its Big Ten Tournament ended.

The women sat lifelessly in the Conseco Fieldhouse locker room, trying to cope after they coughed up a 14-point first-half lead en route to a 64-68 loss to in-state rival Purdue.

That locker room also housed an IU team that must now wait until March 16 before it knows whether it’s worthy of an NCAA tournament berth; winning the Big Ten Tournament would have secured the Hoosiers a bid.

IU was using the tournament as a platform to show the NCAA committee that it deserves to play in March.

The Hoosiers finished their season at 19-10 and will wait until next week to see if an NCAA tournament spot is in their future for the first time since 2002.

Although IU was already on the tournament bubble before its second-round loss, Legette-Jack said she feels it has done enough to secure a spot.

“There’s nothing in my spirit that tells me that we’re not going to be one of 64,” she said. “I think we laid our hats out there throughout the season, and it’s up to the committee to make that decision.”

While Legette-Jack was looking toward the future, the loss had yet to fully sink in for her players. Senior forward Amber Jackson tried to put into words how tough it was to lose to the rival.

“The pain is pretty insurmountable,” she said. “Playing at Indiana, playing against Purdue, that’s the one game you don’t ever want to lose – especially on a stage like this.”

By halftime, the Hoosiers’ lead, which at one point reached 14, was cut to just one, the half finishing at 36-35. Legette-Jack said some of that was due in part to foul trouble.

“With Whitney Thomas and Kim Roberson still in the game, I think we could really take that up to 20 with that momentum we had,” Legette-Jack said. “And when we had to go to the bench a little bit, that hurt us.”

Junior point guard Jamie Braun, who led the team with 18 points, hit a left-handed floater in traffic to tie the game at 64 with 1:24 remaining. Purdue freshman Brittany Rayburn then got loose on a breakaway layup to put her team up two with 34 seconds left.

After a timeout, the Hoosiers had the ball with 14 seconds remaining. Senior Kim Roberson’s 3-point attempt with five seconds left was off the mark. Boilermaker Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton then grabbed the rebound and knocked down two free throws to push the lead to four, ending IU’s chances.

Legette-Jack said she tried to gauge her team’s emotions before calling the last play.
“I asked my team what they thought would work, who felt good,” she said. “I wanted to see what eyes light up before I made a decision on what call to make.”

Although sophomore Jori Davis was the team’s first option, Legette-Jack had no problem with Roberson taking a 3-point shot for the win.

“I like that idea, what Kim Roberson tried to do,” she said. “Let’s not try to tie it – let’s try to win it. And it just fell short.”