Women's basketball shocks No. 4 Buckeyes

Seven IU women’s basketball players dressed to defend Assembly Hall against one of the best teams in the nation.

In the end, those seven were all the team needed for the school’s sororities to storm Branch McCracken Court.

The short-staffed Hoosiers (12-10, 5-6) staged a furious defensive effort and held No. 4 Ohio State to just 20 second-half points en route to a 67-62 upset, their first victory over a top-10 team since 2002.

“What a great focus, oneness, team,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We always went by the tutelage of ‘less is more.’ Well, we were down to seven, and that has to be enough. This young team just got focused, and we played together.”

The 2,891 fans in attendance, powered by the sororities in attendance for the Sorority Sister Challenge, were electric in the final minutes.

“It was deafening,” Legette-Jack said. “I don’t know what it feels like yet to have 17,000 people here cheering for us, but I know that 2,800 was defeaning. It was unbelievable that they gave us that extra person.”

The game marked the second time in the same week that the Buckeyes (21-3, 9-2) had been upset. Purdue beat the Big Ten leader 63-61 in West Lafayette, Ind. on Monday.

“We’re not in that flow,” Ohio State Coach Jim Foster said. “We’re giving up easy baskets at the (defensive) end, going against more set defenses, and the ball is not moving like it needs to move.”

IU allowed Ohio State to shoot just 22 percent from the field in the second half after the Buckeyes had registered a 46-percent effort in the first half.

For a full wrap of Sunday’s upset, read Monday’s IDS.

— Drew Allen