Women's basketball picks up road victory in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The IU women’s basketball team would not allow its record to define its squad or its future.

Coach Felisha Legette-Jack made that clear following the team’s win against Cleveland State last week, which evened the Hoosiers’ record to 3-3.

“This is a special team, and I won’t get carried away with a 3 and 3 record right now,” she said. “But whether we win the rest of them or not, I just love these young ladies. They are bigger than wins and losses.”

At no point were these words truer than Thursday night, when the Hoosiers walked into Littlejohn Coliseum with a 3-3 record and left with a victory against a one-loss Clemson team, 65-51.

For the fourth time this season, senior guard Jori Davis led all Hoosier scorers. Her 17 points and five rebounds were closely followed by sophomore Aulani Sinclair’s career-high 15 points off the bench. Sinclair shot 5-of-9 from the field and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line.

However, the key for IU against Clemson was defense.

Entering Thursday’s game, the Tigers averaged 68.5 points per game. IU held Clemson to 51 points off 31 percent shooting. The Hoosiers also won the turnover battle by committing 15 turnovers to the Tigers’ 23.  Senior guard Whitney Lindsay forced four steals and had six assists, which were game highs.

Clemson came within two points of the Hoosiers (50-48) with 7:56 remaining in the game. Indiana then went on a run of its own, outscoring the Tigers 15-3 to close out the game.

The victory was not only a win for the Hoosiers, but also a win for the Big Ten in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The ACC ultimately won the Challenge, four wins to three.

“It was exciting representing Indiana on the road, and we take that very seriously,” Legette-Jack said following the game. “It was bigger than just Indiana this time. It was for our Big Ten Conference, it was the challenge. ... and in order for us to be good, it had to come through our defense.”

— Avi Zaleon