McCurty shines, team struggles during break

The IU women’s basketball team (5-10) suffered four losses while grabbing only two wins during winter break and has started off its Big Ten conference play 0-2.

The break began with two close losses, as Indiana lost to Northern Illinois 60-59 after a 3-pointer with nine seconds left proved to be the difference.

IU had just won less than a week before in a similar fashion, stealing a win away from IU-Purdue University Indianapolis 65-64 Dec. 11 with two free-throws in the waning seconds by junior Sasha Chaplin.

Indiana then traveled to Cancun, Mexico, to take part in the Caribbean Classic, yet for one game more, the late-game woes followed.

After a back-and-forth second half, the Hoosiers took foe Pittsburgh into overtime but lost another close game 77-72.

The Hoosiers finally saw some light when they finished the Caribbean Classic with a win over Colorado State 47-39.

Freshman Quaneisha McCurty scored nearly half of her team’s points while she set a career high of 20 points, along with 14 rebounds and six blocked shots.

McCurty had another solid game with 17 points in Bloomington as the Hoosiers won against Texas A&M Corpus Christi 80-58 six days later, grabbing only their second win in Bloomington of the regular season thus far.

IU followed up its two wins with a pair of losses to begin the Big Ten schedule, falling to Michigan State at home Dec. 30 63-49 before a 41-point defeat from Minnesota on the road, 84-43.

McCurty’s play proved to be one of the few bright spots during the Hoosiers’ six games during the break, as she averaged nearly 10 points a game and grabbed Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors Monday, becoming the first IU women’s basketball player to receive the award.