IU defeats Milwaukee, moves to 10-0

Fending off a late comeback attempt from Milwaukee, the IU women’s basketball team won their 10th consecutive game Wednesday, defeating their opponents 87-68.

With the win, the Hoosiers moved to a 10-0 record on the season, the program’s first such start since the 1994-95 season.

In the midst of a 17-5 Milwaukee run in the middle of the second half, which saw IU without a field goal for almost seven minutes, Larryn Brooks revived the offense.

The freshman guard stole the ball underneath the basket and tossed an outlet pass to senior forward Sasha Chaplin.

After the pass, Brooks made her way to the corner. She called for the ball and proceeded to drain a 3-pointer to put an end to the Panthers’ run.

That shot seemingly put the game away.

“It was really big for us,” Brooks said. “I mean, it was a team win tonight so it wasn’t really all about that play, but that was definitely where it changed.”

IU controlled the fast-paced tempo for most of the first half, heading into the break
leading 48-35 and finding high-percentage shots, shooting 18-35 from the field.

But after pulling out to a lead as high as 24 points with 15:05 remaining in the second half, the game started to turn the other way. The Hoosier offense had slowed, allowing Milwaukee’s offense to go on a 17-5 run.

“We took our foot off the pedal for just a second and because of that we went through a stretch of being held scoreless,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “We were leaking some oil at that point.”

He said Brooks’ three helped turn the game around and seal the victory.

“That big play by Larryn got the crowd back in it and we were able to take a deep breath,” Miller said. “They were making threes in that stretch, and it energized us to get more stops.”

The Milwaukee offense was pushing tempo throughout the game, which caused IU to struggle at times, as they did during the seven-minute run where they failed to convert a field goal.

Freshman guard Taylor Agler said the Milwaukee’s tempo forced IU to struggle.

“I think that’s the fastest team we’ve played so far,” freshman guard Taylor Agler said.
“I think we could have done a lot better getting back after we scored or whether it was after a rebound.”

Miller said it was Brooks’ ability to limit Milwaukee guard Angela Rodriguez to 6-15 shooting that made a big difference in containing the Milwaukee offense.

“We never switched her off Rodriguez,” Miller said. “For her to spend a lot of energy on the defensive end and do what she did offensively was pretty impressive for a young freshman.”

Miller said IU found their most success off of switches that led to mismatches for the taller Hoosier players like Chaplin, who scored 16 points in only 15 minutes of play.
Chaplin credited the Hoosiers’ willingness to share the ball to their success. IU had 16 assists which led to the Hoosiers shooting 50 percent from the field.

“We’re winning as a team, not just individuals this year,” Chaplin said.
The win maintains the Hoosiers’ undefeated record as they prepare for three road games in a row before starting Big Ten play.

After struggling last season, Chaplin said she has seen progress and is excited to move forward.

“I think it’s a great experience just being part of the new era and having something actually start to build here at Indiana for women’s basketball,” Chaplin said. “It’s been a long time coming and I think we’re finally on the move up.”

Follow reporter Sam Beishuizen on Twitter @Sam_Beishuizen.