Hoosiers to play Belmont looking for 1st home victory

The Hoosiers have to become road warriors.

When six of the first nine games are on the road, those teams with the home court advantage don’t have as hard a test.

This is something IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack emphasized earlier in the year, getting her youthful team experience away from Bloomington.

In the third game of the season, IU (1-1) takes on Belmont at 7 p.m. Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

With losses to UT-Martin, Memphis and Auburn, the Bruins are 0-3 on the year. Those three games were all on the road.

IU lost its first road game of the season when it opened its schedule with Central Arkansas, 58-46.

The Hoosiers returned home with a 70-67 victory against Murray State at Assembly Hall.

“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing that we can come back from a deficit to win,” senior forward Danilsa Andujar said.

Through two games, junior guard Jasmine McGhee leads the Hoosiers with 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Complementing McGhee is the senior forward and co-captain Georgie Jones, with 10 points and nine rebounds per game. Jones discussed her comfort in knowing McGhee is on the court.

“We feed off each other very well,” Jones said.

The Hoosiers carry an all-time 3-0 record in games played against Belmont.
“(Belmont) can shoot the ball from the perimeter and have very aggressive post players,” Legette-Jack said.

One of those post players Legette-Jack is referring to is senior Haley Nelson.
The Bruins are led by the 6-foot-2-inch center, who averages 15 points and nine rebounds per game.

Legette-Jack talked about Belmont Coach Brittney Ezell’s style of putting up a similar size advantage.

“They are feisty. They are tall. They are going to meet us eye-to-eye,” Legette-Jack said. “We have to continue to get better. Every little piece of this journey is important.”
Defense has been a key component to this team’s growth and fight against other opponents.

“Defense is always emphasized in every practice,” Andujar said.

Andujar also said the players’ confidence comes from improving their use of negatives during the last two games to succeed on the road in this one.

“We’ve watched film and know our weaknesses and what we need to fix in order to win,” Andujar said.