Hoosiers prepare for Big Ten elite Buckeyes

The women’s basketball team is looking to do Thursday what the men’s team did on New Year’s Eve: knock off a highly ranked Ohio State squad in Assembly Hall.

Such an upset would be the Hoosiers’ first Big Ten victory of the season, as they are 0-7 in conference play and 5-15 overall.

The Buckeyes, meanwhile, sit on the other end of the Big Ten spectrum. Their No. 9 ranking and overall record of 19-1 are both conference bests.

Ohio State last came to Bloomington on Jan. 31, 2010. The Buckeyes were ranked sixth in the nation, but IU was able to knock them off in a close contest, 67-62.

IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said she thinks a win this year would be an even tougher task.

“They’re a better team now than they were back then, in my opinion, even though they’re ranked ninth now,” she said. “They play with a lot more fire. They’ve got more weapons.”

IU will be playing behind the offense of junior guard Jasmine McGhee and junior forward Aulani Sinclair.

McGhee leads the team in scoring with an average of 13.2 per game. She has scored in double figures 11 times this year.

Sinclair is the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.5 points per contest. Before her 0-1 performance from the free-throw line at Michigan on Sunday, she had made 19 consecutive free throws, dating back to Dec. 21 against Pittsburgh.

Ohio State has a duo of guards that is one of the best in the nation — senior Samantha Prahalis and junior Tayler Hill. The two have combined to win four Big Ten player of the week awards so far.

Hill’s and Prahalis’ scoring averages of 21.6 and 18.7 rank 10th and 30th
nationally, respectively.

Sophomore guard Andrea Newbauer will be one of the Hoosiers responsible for slowing the duo down.

“We just have to contain them on defense,” she said. “We can’t let them get out and run on us in transition.

Despite the intimidation that IU will face, Newbauer said she remains positive about their chances.

“Definitely it’s going to be a challenge, but we can handle it,” she said.