Braun powers Hoosiers past Illinois

After a slow first half, the IU women’s basketball team came together late and claimed a thrilling 50-48 victory over Illinois Thursday.

Senior guard Jamie Braun overcame earlier turnovers and miscues and scored the final five points for the Hoosiers (9-6, 2-2), including a 22-foot 3-point basket to tie the game and a hard-driven layup for the winning points with just over two seconds left.

“I just knew at the end of the game that, obviously, Illinois was playing pressure defense like they were at the beginning,” said Braun, who finished with 12 points. “I guess I just decided to take (the shot) out and see if it looks good.”

IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she was happy to see the team’s lone senior seal the victory.

“Jamie’s a team player, a consumate team player,” she said. “At the end of the game, it is great when your seniors step up and say, ‘Climb on my back; we’re going to win, and if we lose it’s going to be on me.’ I respect what she did today.”

Also propelling the Hoosiers was the aggressive play of junior guard Jori Davis, who led the team in scoring with 18 points.

Davis made extra efforts to draw fouls against Illinois senior forward Lacey Simpson when she drove for layups and earned three trips to the foul line. The junior converted four of five free throws.

“(Illinois has) a great defender in Lacey Simpson,” Davis said, “and one of the things we wanted to do was at least try to get her in foul trouble early, get her out of the game, and then more things would open up on the offensive end and also on the defensive end because she’s also able to score for them.”

For the Fighting Illini (10-4, 2-2), senior center Jenna Smith led scoring with 12 points, but they all came in the first half.
 
IU allowed the Illinois to lead by as many as eight points in a turnover-heavy first half; IU committed seven and Illinois had 10.

Davis led the Hoosiers in scoring in the half with 8 points, including four free-throw attempts. Junior forward Hope Elam added 6 and pulled down a team-high 4 rebounds.

IU struggled to maintain offensive pace with Illinois in the first half. The Hoosiers managed just 25.9 percent field goal efficiency to the Fighting Illini’s 42.9 percent.

Another early plague for IU was lack of communication; the Hoosiers committed three shot clock violations, including one by Braun at the end of the first half. The senior was late in passing to freshman forward Aulani Sinclair, who couldn’t get a shot off before the buzzer sounded. As a result, Illinois claimed a 27-21 halftime lead.

However, IU began a rally with just under 14 minutes to play. Davis scored and drew a foul to add another point, and then Sinclair drained a three-pointer to cut the Fighting Illini’s lead to one point at 36-35.

The Hoosiers matched Illinois point-for-point until Simpson stole a pass and scored a layup to put the Fighting Illini up 48-45 with 2:58 to play. Braun then missed a free-throw attempt, but Elam rebounded and passed back to Braun at the top of the key. The senior hit the game-tying three-pointer with 1:38 remaining.

Following a timeout, Illinois missed a jump shot and sophomore forward Danilsa Andujar rebounded. Andujar passed to Braun, who drove to the basket for a layup, but Illinois freshman guard Adrienne Godbold blocked her attempt. IU recovered and called a timeout with eight seconds left.

The Hoosiers went right back to Braun after the timeout. From the top of the key, she drove fiercely down the right side of the lane and made a layup to give IU a 50-48 lead with just under three seconds remaining.

The Fighting Illini attempted a last-second three-pointer that went in-and-out, giving the Hoosiers the victory.

IU hits the road for its next game, traveling to Penn State at noon Sunday.