IU women's losing streak hits four

The IU women’s basketball team tried to win two battles Sunday: one against breast cancer and one against Minnesota.

With all the pink throughout Assembly Hall, the team accomplished the former. It did not, however, accomplish the latter.

Poor shooting hindered the Hoosiers (13-14, 6-10) as the Golden Gophers (13-14, 6-10) won 59-50 and handed IU its fourth-straight loss.

“I thought we struggled offensively,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We kind of watched and wanted somebody else to step up. When you’re waiting on somebody else ... that person’s going to get the opportunity that you probably deserve.

“This is not easy, it’s not fun. It’s certainly not what we anticipated moving down the stretch in February. We certainly didn’t think we would be on a four-game skid.”

IU shot 27.4 percent from the field compared to Minnesota’s 40 percent. Junior guard Jori Davis was the only double-digit scorer for the Hoosiers with 22 points.

“It was no big load,” she said. “I just needed to step up and try to be a difference in the game. And the way it was going, it was my job to step up and lead the team, and that’s what I was trying to do.”

For the Golden Gophers, guards Katie Ohm and Kiara Buford led the way with 14 points each. Twelve of Ohm’s points came early in the first half on four 3-point shots.
Ohm hit three of them in the first four minutes of play to put Minnesota up 12-0, a lead it would not relinquish the entire game.

“I think, against the matchup, we were wide open,” Minnesota coach Pam Borton said. “It was just making open shots.”

IU also tried to shoot 3-pointers but was woefully ineffective, going just 3-for-16 from long range in the first half and 5-for-27 overall.

“That’s passive basketball,” Legette-Jack said. “You’re taking jump shots, and you know that you’ve got the lane open. You’ve got to find a way to get to the lane.”

The Golden Gophers looked to be heading to the locker room with a nine-point lead until Davis nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut Minnesota’s halftime advantage to 29-23.

IU scored the second half’s first points but would not score again for more than seven minutes.

The Golden Gophers went ahead by as many as 18 points before Davis finally ended the Hoosiers’ drought with a layup and foul with 12:08 remaining.

Down 45-30 with just more than 10 minutes to play, IU got aggressive. The Hoosiers came back to as close as seven points but ran out of time to have a chance to win.

“We definitely picked up defensively and got a couple of turnovers, and that’s what helped us offensively and we just had to keep it up, but we didn’t do that,” sophomore forward Danilsa Andujar said.

Legette-Jack said her team still has plenty to accomplish despite the losing streak.

“I’m a firm believer in hope and faith,” she said. “I certainly think that some good’s going to come out of this. At the end of the day, you’ve got to stay true to the course, and you’ve got to stay on line to finish what you started.”