Women's basketball defeats Cleveland State

IU women’s basketball is off to the best start in program history after defeating Cleveland State 107-73 Saturday in Cleveland.

With the win, IU (12-0) ties with the 1971-72 team for the most wins to start the season. The 1971-72 season was the program's first as an IU varsity sport.

The team’s 12th consecutive non-conference win also sets a new record for most non-conference wins in a season, with one non-conference game remaining against Xavier on Dec. 29.

“We are really proud of it,” IU Coach Curt Miller said of the record. “We celebrated it that they can never take us out of the record books right now as the most wins in non-conference and with the Big Ten going back to 18 conference games, we don’t even play 12 non-conference so maybe it’s a record that will stand for a while.”

After being tied 7-7 after the first 4:58 of play, IU went on an 11-0 run during which four different Hoosiers scored.

IU found success in getting high percentage shots off of extra passes. The team recorded 27 assists on 37 made field goals and shot 58.73% from the field during the game.

IU’s 107 points scored is the highest total scored since they put up 107 points against UAB in 1991. The offensive outburst came just one game after a season low 51 points against IUPUI.

“I thought we did a good job getting off to a good start tonight which had focus,” Miller said. “We had energy in the beginning. I thought a fast start was much needed for an offensive confidence coming off of the IUPUI game.”

IU added a 12-0 run between 9:55-6:24 remaining in the first half to stretch the lead to 19.  IU would take a 46-26 lead into the half and managed to remain in control the rest of the game.

During the second half, IU’s bench players were able to help extend the lead to as high as 37 points.

Sophomore guard Nicole Bell and freshman center Jenn Anderson combined for 23 points off of a combined 72.73 percent shooting from the field to fend off any sort of Cleveland State comeback.

“Coming out of the locker room against an explosive team, (we) showed the maturity and the focus not to be on Christmas break quite yet and got up on them big,” Miller said. “Which allowed us to play everybody on our roster significant minutes, sending everyone home for Christmas with a big smile on their face.”

Senior forward Tabitha Gerardot had her best game as a Hoosier. The Valparaiso transfer had 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists in the game.

Freshman guard Larryn Brooks led IU in scoring with 23 points in 27 minutes of play. Brooks shot 50 percent from the field and was 3-5 from behind the arc.

On the defensive end, IU was able to prevent Cleveland State from creating any significant scoring runs to challenge the Hoosiers’ lead. The Hoosiers out-rebounded the Vikings 51-20 which limited Cleveland State’s second chance scoring opportunities.

The Hoosiers have a small break before playing Xavier on the road in the final tune-up before the Big Ten season starts. Miller was happy that his older players could reflect on what has been their most successful year at IU over break.

“Not a lot of success with those seniors in the locker room throughout their careers so to watch them smile and be proud of something, it means probably more than people realize,” Miller said.