Seniors to play final home game

The seniors on the IU women’s basketball team don’t want to end their careers at Assembly Hall like they did Wednesday against Michigan.

IU (17-9, 4-9) led by six at halftime, but its lead quickly evaporated in the second half. Senior forward Simone Deloach said the Hoosiers lost their toughness, leading to a 70-58 loss.

Deloach and the rest of the senior class — Sasha Chaplin, Andrea Newbauer and Milika Taufa, along with senior transfer Tabitha Gerardot — have one final regular season home game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Illinois.

The seniors have put extra emphasis on the game to end their careers at Assembly Hall on a positive note.

“It definitely is (added motivation),” Deloach said. “It’s going to be an emotional game. It will probably bring out some better emotions within us for the seniors and the entire team. I think it will be a good boost to help push us through.”

IU’s three true seniors went 26-63 during their first three years at IU, winning only six Big Ten games.

Following a 6-24 season their sophomore year, IU fired Coach Felisha Legette-Jack and hired IU Coach Curt Miller.

Miller quickly drew up a rebuilding plan and began to work on revitalizing the struggling IU program.

He not only brought in new schemes on the court, but he also put an emphasis on setting the foundation for making IU a program capable of regularly competing for national championships in the future.

Miller said this year’s seniors were a big part in building the locker room he needed.
“The initial buy-in happened off the court,” Miller said. “They tried to build a locker room chemistry and not smaller cliques. It was really important that we had their buy-in early, and they did.”

Chaplin, a sixth-year graduate student who is celebrating her second senior day after being granted an extra year of eligibility, said she has been impressed with the way the program has grown since coming to IU six years ago.

She watched as Cook Hall was built during her tenure, but said the biggest growth has been the fans.

“We’ve had good moments in those previous seasons where we did well, and we had those moments where we didn’t do so well,” Chaplin said. “Just the community actually coming and standing behind us these past seasons. It’s really cool to see more fans show up and to embrace the game.”

This season, fans watched IU win 17 games with at least four more games remaining. It’s the most games the program has won since the 2008-09 season.

Though there is still basketball left to play, this year’s senior class leaves the program well before IU is ready to become the powerhouse team Miller is trying to create.
Instead, they’ve laid the framework for future players.

“It’s actually pretty good to see the program making those stepping stones and us this year as well as last year laying that foundation for the program,” Deloach said.
“It’s a great feeling leaving with a positive note with the system.”

Follow reporter Sam Beishuizen on Twitter @Sam_Beishuizen