Hoosiers playing well heading into Big Ten Tournament

During the last four games, the IU women’s basketball team has either had a lead or been within six points at the start of the second half.

For IU Coach Curt Miller, this team has exceeded expectations in the first year of a rebuilding process, he said.

He and the team just want at least one more victory to prove to the public the tide of the program has changed.

The team wants to shock the world and beat Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament as a No. 12 seed tonight in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

“We’ve all got that fire burning inside of us,” senior guard Jasmine McGhee said. “We all want to win. We’re just so close. I think going into the Big Ten Tournament, everybody knows we may be able to upset some teams. If everybody has that mindset, I think we can do something amazing.”

IU’s biggest loss was against Michigan State on Feb. 13 when the team lost 72-42.

But since then, everything has changed, Miller said.

The team followed that loss with a buzzer-beating victory against then-No. 22 rival Purdue. It made a second-half run at Illinois to bring the game to within six points and forced the Illini to make clutch shots.

The team jumped out in front against Iowa and led for most of the game before eventually falling.

In the season finale against Minnesota, the team had the Gophers within three points with under 30 seconds left.

“We have a different swagger ever since the bye date,” Miller said. “Something happened in that game where we didn’t play well against Michigan State. Something happened in our attitude and approach.

“Coming back from that bye date, we’ve really played four games in a row that we are
proud of. We only won one, but we were in those other three games. We have a swagger. We’re playing our best basketball.”

Redshirt senior center Sasha Chaplin said she is already excited for next year because of the way the team is playing right now. Chaplin scored a season-high 17 points Sunday against Minnesota.

“We feel the chemistry has gotten a lot better later on in the season,” she said. “We wish we could have 20 more games or a whole other season to actually show people how we’ve improved and how much better we can do in the season.”

Miller, McGhee and Chaplin all said a win Thursday night would be a huge boost for the program.

Miller said he has a five-year plan to get the program where it needs
to be.

He also said he never thought the team would be where it’s at today when he first started working with the team in August.

“We’re going to try to be a spoiler as long as we can stay up there,” Miller said. “It would really help change the culture here and set the tone for the future.”

Miller said he wants the team to play well for the seniors, McGhee, forward
Aulani Sinclair, forward Linda Rubene and Chaplin, who plans to return for a sixth year of eligibility.

But McGhee wants to play to show the public where the program is headed.

“I think one more win would just kind of publicly help the fact that this program is growing,” McGhee said. “Everyone knows we can see the chemistry coming together and the sparks flying.

“We know that this program is going to be something amazing in the future. I think that one more win would just help people realize that all in all, this program is set to have high, high expectations in the future.”