Women’s basketball throttles USC Upstate 87-38

The Indiana women’s basketball team scored the game’s first 21 points on Sunday against the USC Upstate Spartans. It took the Spartans until the 11:53 mark in the first half to record their first bucket.

In addition to the scoring run to open the game, Indiana closed the half on an 18-0 run during the final five minutes and two seconds.

The Hoosiers (7-0) never relented in their attack and won the contest by a score of 87-38. Freshman guard Taylor Agler said this gives her team a boost of confidence heading into their Big Ten/ACC matchup against Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

“We shot really well, and this gives us confidence going into our next game,” Agler said.

Agler was one of five Hoosiers to finish the game with double digit points. Senior forward Sasha Chaplin had 10, freshman guard Larryn Brooks had 14, freshman guard Alexis Gassion had 10 and sophomore guard Kaila Hulls had 12.

At halftime, Indiana led USC Upstate 51-13. IU Coach Curt Miller said he didn’t have much for his team to work on during the halftime intermission.

“I told the team I didn’t have a lot of negatives going into the locker room,” Miller said. “It had to be a fun half to watch for fans. It certainly was a fun half to coach.”

For the first half, the Hoosiers shot 18 of 33 (55.4 percent) from the floor, while limiting the Spartans to just 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) shooting. For the game, the Hoosiers shot 31 of 66 (47 percent) from the field.

Miller said that within the actual game are intervals he calls “four-minute battles.” In the first half, the Hoosiers won all five of the four-minute battles, Miller said.

“The whole topic is focus, and then you’ve got to break it down,” Miller said. “You talk about four-minute battles, and we won all five four-minute battles in the first half.”

Senior forward Tabitha Gerardot led the Hoosiers with 10 rebounds, while Brooks’ four assists placed her at the top of that category.

The Hoosiers finished the game with 53 rebounds, 15 assists, nine blocks and two steals while turning the ball over 13 times.

Indiana spread its minutes out throughout its roster. No player tallied more than 30 minutes of playing time, and 10 players saw more than 10 minutes of action.

The win moves the Hoosiers to 7-0 on the season for the first time since the 2000-01 season. Next up on Indiana’s schedule is Virginia Tech this Wednesday at home.

Miller said the Hoosiers, which are the only team still unbeaten amongst Big Ten foes, are looking forward to their Big Ten/ACC matchup.

“I think they’re confident,” Miller said. “We’re the lone unbeaten team in the Big Ten. We played the schedule that we have, and I’m not going to apologize for that. They’ve stepped up to every challenge.”

Follow women's basketball reporter John Bauernfeind on Twitter @JohnBauernfeind.