Hoosiers defeat Wisconsin, 76-69

Filled with fans wearing pink to honor cancer survivors in attendance, Assembly Hall was the home of fighters Saturday afternoon.

“Because of the pink day, because of the cancer awareness, we talked about how a lot of people are going under fights a lot tougher than just a basketball game,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “And if we could honor them by just fighting ourselves on the court, it would be a small gesture to all the people affected by cancer.”

Led by freshman guard Larryn Brooks’ 22 points, IU showed toughness and resiliency in a 76-69 victory against Wisconsin. It’s the first time the Hoosiers have had at least 17 wins through their first 23 games since the 1993-94 season.

The Hoosiers’ 17th victory of the season was not earned without challenges.

Wisconsin (10-13, 3-8) cut IU’s lead to single digits five times during the second half.

Before trimming the deficit to single digits the first time at the 12 minutes three seconds mark, the Badgers applied full-court pressure to the Hoosiers (17-6, 4-6).
The pressure resulted in four second-half turnovers.

Brooks said facing the full-court press was tough.

“They were kind of double, triple-teaming me,” she said. “It wasn’t too tough, but we just need to have more focus down the stretch.”

Senior center Simone Deloach fouled out when the Hoosiers were down by eight points with two minutes and 48 seconds remaining. She finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Despite losing Deloach late in the game, Miller said he wasn’t concerned.

“We had fouls, we still had bodies to go so we weren’t concerned overall, because we could’ve easily called on Jenn (Anderson) or Lika (Taufa) late in that game,” he said.
That kind of confidence would have been hard to find in the first half for IU.

The Hoosiers went nearly four minutes without making a field goal. The scoreless streak ended when Deloach made a layup, which sparked a 19-3 run for the Hoosiers.

“It is not easy to score against them, so for us to put up a 40-point half in the first half was a huge confidence boost and gave us a cushion that we didn’t have to play perfect basketball,” Miller said.

Freshman guard Alexis Gassion finished with 14 points, her second consecutive game scoring in double figures.

“I’ve been working on my shot, and it’s been on for me,” Gassion said. “I just try to do what I can for my team and help out.”

Defensively, the Hoosiers clamped down on Wisconsin junior forward Jacki Gulczynski. She was held to six points and three rebounds after finishing with a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds during the first matchup.

IU outscored Wisconsin 40-28 in points in the paint after scoring 26 points and missing 17 shots in the paint in the first game between the conference foes.

Miller said he was pleased with the fight his team showed.

“I’m proud of our team tonight,” Miller said. “It’s a big win for us.”

Follow reporter Stuart Jackson on Twitter @Stuart_Jackson1.