IU looks to get first conference road win since 2011

Following Wednesday’s buzzer-beating win against No. 22 Purdue to snap a 10-game losing streak, the IU women’s basketball team looks to take its confidence on the road when it plays at 3 p.m. Saturday at Illinois.

With Wednesday’s win, IU recorded its second Big Ten win of the season. Last year, IU didn’t win a conference game until the last game of the regular season. Including Saturday’s game, the Hoosiers have three Big Ten games left before the conference tournament.

IU (11-15, 2-11) last won three Big Ten games in the 2010-11 season. That’s also the last time the Hoosiers won a conference road game, which came at Illinois on Feb. 10, 2011.

“It just gives us a ton of energy right now,” senior forward Aulani Sinclair said of the Purdue win Wednesday night. “We take it one game at a time.”

Saturday’s matchup features two first-year Big Ten coaches, as IU Coach Curt Miller opposes Illinois Coach Matt Bollant.

Bollant has guided the Illini to a sixth place standing in the conference, led by the Big Ten’s third-highest scoring offense at 71.2 points per game.

Karisma Penn and Adrienne GodBold both average more than 18 points per game. Two more Illini, Ivory Crawford and Amber Moore, each average 12.6.

The Hoosiers, by contrast, only have two players who average double figure scoring, Sinclair and senior Jasmine McGhee, but they hit the shot to beat Purdue Wednesday.

IU is last in the conference in scoring offense at just more than 55 points per game.

But the Illini don’t bolster such a strong fight on the other side of the ball. Illinois surrenders the most points per game in the Big Ten, allowing opponents to score 67.6 points per game.

The poor defense leads Illinois to a scoring margin of just +5.0, good for just ninth in the Big Ten.

While IU is coming off of its biggest win of the season, Illinois comes into the game riding an opposite wave of momentum. The Illini lost at Penn State by 33 points Wednesday night, falling 95-62.

However, Illinois is 8-4 since falling to Purdue in overtime 67-66 Jan. 2.

The other key to Illinois’ record, besides its potent scoring, is its ability to strip the ball. The Illini lead the conference in steals, averaging more than 12 per game.

It will be another tough test for freshman guard Nicole Bell, who has played in 234 of the last 240 game minutes.

She will be counted on to bring the ball up against consistent pressure, with no one on the bench behind her to relieve her.

She showed her ability to beat the full-court press in Wednesday’s win, when Purdue pressured her on the last play of the game. She outran her defender to effectively get the ball to McGhee.

Illinois is second in the league in turnover margin, behind top-ranked Penn State.

IU will have to continue the tough rebounding it showcased Wednesday when it won the rebounding battle against Purdue, 35-33. Illinois ranks fourth in the league in offensive rebounding.