Hoosier shooters go cold at home

Thursday brought two teams with early season win streaks into Assembly Hall. The IU women’s basketball team looked to ride the momentum of its upset of Nebraska, and the Miami of Ohio Redhawks sought a win against their only Big Ten opponent this year.

The Hoosiers (5-4) could not overcome the Redhawks (5-3) in a back-and-forth battle that left IU on the losing end of a 67-61 game.

“The story of a young team continuing to find its way,” head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We are in the learning stage right now, and it is a young team that needs to continue to grow and mature.”

Against Miami of Ohio, the Hoosiers’ shots did not fall. IU was 32.2 percent from the field and made only one three-point shot in 20 attempts.

IU came into the game knowing it had to defend Redhawks guard sophomore Courtney Osborn and contain the inside presence of junior Maggie Boyer.

Senior guard Whitney Lindsay was part of the defensive effort to stop Miami’s shooters but came up short Thursday night against Miami’s 42.1 percentage from the field.

“I think we waited too late to pressure her (Osborn),” Lindsay said. “We just got to get better with that and pressure the whole 40 minutes and not just the end when we need it most.”

Turnovers plagued both teams throughout the game. The defensive pressure of senior guards Andrea McGuirt and Lindsay helped force 26 Redhawks turnovers. However, IU was unable to capitalize, scoring only 19 points off of them.

In the second half, a tempo increase by the Hoosiers led to a fast-paced see-saw basketball game to which the team has become more accustomed.

However, several missed layups kept IU from pulling out the win in the end.

All season, coach Legette-Jack has stressed rebounding and owning the boards. The Hoosiers were not strong enough to out-rebound the Redhawks, who won the rebounding battle 46 to 35.

Senior guard Jori Davis once again found ways to lead her team in scoring and get to the free-throw line. Davis led all players with 31 points and went 15-of-20 from the free-throw line. The All-American candidate broke her own Big-Ten record for free-throw attempts.

Davis’ performance still could not bring the Hoosiers the victory they wanted.

“It’s a team effort, you know,” Davis said. “There’s always something you have to get better at as a team. The defensive intensity was not there tonight.”