Hoosiers set for Lady Lions

After a quick start in the non-conference season, the IU women’s basketball team looks to make more headway with its Big Ten slate.

The Hoosiers hope to begin with a road victory at noon Sunday at Penn State (10-4, 2-2).

“This is a young team that’s fighting right now,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said.

IU has shown competitiveness on both sides of the court thus far. Guards senior Jamie Braun and junior Jori Davis both entered the season with expectations of leading the team offensively, and both have delivered. Davis leads the team in points per game with 17.1, and Braun owns the team’s second-highest average at 11.4. Braun also leads the Hoosiers with 46 assists.

The pleasant surprise for the Hoosiers has been the post play of its top two forwards, junior Hope Elam and redshirt freshman Sasha Chaplin, both of whom have averaged 9.6 points per game thus far.

Elam, who transferred to IU from Vincennes University, has provided a substantial boost to the Hoosiers’ frontcourt. She has given the team a dependable scoring option underneath the basket.

Chaplin, who missed the majority of the 2008 season with an injury, has averaged 24.8 minutes per game after playing no more than 22 minutes in any one contest during her true freshman season.

Chaplin has been IU’s top rebounder, pulling down 102 boards for a per-game average of 7.3.   

IU began the 2009 Big Ten season with a 68-63 victory in its conference opener at Michigan State, but the competitiveness of the Big Ten soon caught up to the squad. IU lost to in-state rival Purdue in West Lafayette, 76-66, on Dec. 31 and to the vengeful Spartans, 53-44, last Sunday in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers’ next opponent presents legitimate challenges.

The Lady Lions have been one of the conference’s better rebounding teams, particularly on the offensive end of the court.

Their average of 15.8 offensive rebounds per game is second best in the Big Ten, and they also average 27.5 defensive boards.  

Carrying on in Big Ten play, Legette-Jack said, the team’s confidence and resolve has been, and will be, pivotal.

“We’re going to have some valleys that we’re going to face, but we’re also going to hit some places that are really high,” she said. “This is a long season, and we’re going to keep getting better as a team.”