Women's basketball takes on Virginia Tech at home

The Big Ten/ACC Challenge will have some distinct opponents for the IU women’s basketball team when it faces Virginia Tech tonight at Assembly Hall.

“Five of their top six kids are international players,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “It’s not often that you see a team that has such a dominant international flair to it.”

Miller said what also stood out about the Hokies was their balance.

“They have surrounded (their post players) with really quality 3-point shooters,” he said. “Their balance to beat you both ways has been impressive.”

Virginia Tech (6-1) finished at the bottom of the ACC last season with a 4-14 conference record and 10-20 overall record. It comes into tonight’s game averaging 71.9 points per game as a team.

“To have a good ACC team come in here and challenge us, it’s going to be a good test to see where we are,” senior center Sasha Chaplin said.

Miller said the Hokies’ athleticism stands out.

“Their athleticism jumps off the page at you,” Miller said. “Their size in the wing position is great wing size.”

Chaplin said their athleticism and height will provide a challenge for the Hoosiers, but allow IU to get a sense of what it will see day-in-and-day-out in the conference season.

“They’re all athletic, they all have size, they all have height, so right now this is giving us an early test of what we’re doing and our progress heading to Big Ten season,” she said.

Though the Hoosiers and Hokies have their differences, both share the goal of expanding their programs.

“It’s fun to watch what (Virginia Tech Coach Dennis Wolff) has done, because we’re trying to do the same thing,” Miller said. “We’re trying to build and grow a program.”

The Hoosiers will have freshman center Jenn Anderson back for the third consecutive game. Anderson sustained a wrist injury in the Hoosiers’ exhibition victory against Georgetown College Oct. 29.

“She’s getting comfortable catching the ball again, she’s getting comfortable playing with that injury,” Miller said.

Freshman guard Taylor Agler said playing Virginia Tech could give the Hoosiers confidence for the conference season.

“If we can beat Virginia Tech, we know we can beat Big Ten schools and hang in there with them,” she said.

Agler also said the Big Ten/ACC Challenge will give the Hoosiers a chance to prove themselves.

“I think it’s really important, not only to prove to ourselves that we can play with big-time schools, but to prove to other people that we’re here and things are changing around here,” she said.

Follow reporter Stuart Jackson on Twitter @Stuart_Jackson1.