IU skid longest of Legette-Jack era

IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack and senior guard Jori Davis sat down at the post-game press conference with red eyes, glazed-over and welled up.

They had just suffered their eighth-straight loss — the longest losing streak of Coach Legette-Jack’s tenure.

“We’re supposed to endure this and figure it all out and get better and be bigger for this,” Legette-Jack said.

Her team’s 65-59 loss to Minnesota on Thursday at Assembly Hall now drops the Hoosiers to last in the Big Ten standings.

The Hoosiers (8-14, 2-8) headed into the first half with a three-point advantage, but
struggled to hold it for the remaining 20 minutes.

IU traded the lead with Minnesota (11-12, 3-7) nine times, as neither team was able to build a margin larger than nine.

Thanks to 17 second-half points from Davis, the Hoosiers enjoyed a 55-53 lead with 5:35 left to play.

However, Minnesota would close the game with a 10-4 run to seal the victory.
Coach Legette-Jack said her team must learn to close tight games.

“My hope is that we continue the growth in those 34 minutes, and stretch those minutes to 36, and 37, and hopefully a 40-minute game,” she said.

Davis said she agreed that her team didn’t match the Gophers’ intensity in the final minutes.

“We kind of settled and was like ‘okay,’ but we need to keep pushing forward,” Davis said. “While we were maintaining, they were coming a little bit harder toward us.”
Mental errors cost the Hoosiers in the last 90 seconds of the game.

Senior guard Whitney Lindsay was called for a 5-second inbounds violation at the 1:23 mark with the Hoosiers down by three, while Davis dribbled the ball off her foot with five seconds left.

The turnover would lead to a Minnesota transition layup with a second left giving the Gophers their final points.

“Well we certainly weren’t 100 percent mentally focused when you make those mistakes,” Legette-Jack said. “That five-second call is totally a coach’s fault. We knew that she was struggling, and we didn’t make that call fast enough, and I take full responsibility for that.”

Davis led all scorers with 22 points, while fellow seniors Hope Elam and Lindsay each chipped in 14.

However, it was not enough to stop a Minnesota inside game that outscored IU 26-8 in the paint.

The Hoosiers’ post-season aspirations now have all but vanished, given that if they win the rest of their games, their record will stand at 14-14.

IU will look to break the eight-game skid when they play host to Wisconsin on Sunday.