Women's basketball owns paint, defeats UIndy to finish preseason

The IU women’s basketball team wasted no time.

Six seconds into Saturday’s final exhibition game against the University of Indianapolis, senior guard Whitney Lindsay scored a quick layup with a foul and then grabbed a steal during Indianapolis’ first possession.

The Hoosiers’ lead would grow as they jumped out to a 16-point advantage after 10 minutes of play.

Easy points in the paint and a stingy defense were the keys to success for coach Felisha Legette-Jack’s team in its 76-41 victory.

“Sometimes the game can be won or lost in the first five minutes,” Legette-Jack said. “I thought that Whitney [Lindsay] brought such energy out there defensively to create that synergy for our team. That ignited such enthusiasm that we took the lead and never looked back.”

Lindsay caused four of the team’s 16 steals, which translated into 23 Hoosier points off of turnovers. The senior captain also scored eight points and led the team with seven assists.

“I think a lot of our offense is going to come from transition this year because our defense is going to reflect our offense,” Lindsay said. “I like the energy that we’re bringing to the table, and if we start the game with offensive transition baskets, that’s how we need to start off all our games.”

Throughout the game, Lindsay and her teammates fought for loose balls and swatted away passes on their way to forcing 25 UIndy turnovers.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Hoosiers dominated the Greyhounds in the paint.  
A point of improvement for IU last season, Legette-Jack’s team scored 36 points in the paint to UIndy’s 2. The Hoosiers’ ball movement in the frontcourt gave easy looks to their forwards. Junior center Danilsa Andujar was one of five Hoosiers who scored in double figures, shooting a perfect five-for-five from the field.

The Hoosiers were without starting center Sasha Chaplin, who Legette-Jack said would be healthy for their regular season opener against Ball State on Friday. In her absence, freshmen Kristiana Stauere, Milika Taufa and Simone Deloach were incorporated off the bench into the team’s rotation.

“We have so many combinations we can use now, it’s going to be really neat,” Legette-Jack said. “We have some really good pieces of the puzzle, now we need to corral them. It’s up to my coaches to get to work and figure out what system we’re going to create to go up against a very stingy Ball State team.”