Women's basketball to play Michigan tonight

Despite a large piece of metal falling from the Assembly Hall ceiling and damaging seats at Assembly Hall on Thursday afternoon, IU women’s basketball opens its final home stand tonight against Michigan at 7 p.m. with postseason implications on the line.

The Hoosiers (17-8, 4-8) have dropped their last two consecutive games, giving up second-half leads to both Penn State and Nebraska. Defeating either team could have gone a long way toward securing a postseason tournament bid.

IU looks to hold serve tonight against a Michigan program the Hoosiers lost to three times last season by an average of 20.6 points per game.

IU Coach Curt Miller stressed the importance of earning another win at home to inch closer to securing an invitation to a postseason tournament.

“I’m not convinced that we’re not one win away from a postseason bid, maybe to a WNIT or WBI,” Miller said. “So this home stand is very important.”

Michigan (16-10,7-6) travels to Bloomington having defeated Illinois 70-63 on Sunday.
Junior forward Cyesha Goree was named Big Ten Player of the Week after scoring 30 points off 12-of-15 shooting and grabbing a season-high 19 rebounds against the Illini.

IU has struggled in limiting opponents’ star players this season. Penn State’s Maggie Lucas and Nebraska’s Jordan Hooper combined to score 63 points during the Hoosiers’ last two games.

Both games resulted in a loss.

The Hoosiers need to limit Goree’s efficiency from the floor if they want to slow Michigan’s offense down and avoid suffering a similar situation to when Hooper led a comeback against IU on Sunday, Miller said.

“You can absorb 32 points from a star player if you make them come over a lot of shots,” Miller said. “But (Hooper) was really efficient that night, and she really hurt us.”
Miller said tonight’s matchup against the Wolverines will see both teams in contrasting styles of play.

Michigan outrebounds opponents by 8.3 per game, the best in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have found success this season by scoring on second-chance points off rebounding in the painted area.

IU, on the other hand, has scored most of its points from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers still lead the Big Ten in 3-pointers made per game and will likely get plenty of opportunities to let the ball fly from long range against Michigan’s preferred 2-3 zone defense.

The Wolverines zone has resulted in one of the better perimeter defenses in the conference this season. They have allowed opponents to shoot 32.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, sixth among Big Ten teams.

The Hoosiers’ 3-point shooting has been inconsistent during their last two games. IU went cold during the second half against Penn State, allowing the Nittany Lions to go on a 17-6 run.

Miller said not allowing the opposition to go on a large-scoring run is key to IU being able to stay in games late.

“We stayed away from that big run against us for a long time in that game, but it came late, and we were unable to get ourselves back in it,” Miller said. “We just want to stay away from that big run.”

IU plays Illinois at home on Saturday before traveling next week to play
Minnesota and Michigan State before the Big Ten Tournament begins March 6 in
Indianapolis.

Miller said a win at home tonight against Michigan could be huge in giving the Hoosiers confidence and momentum heading into the postseason.

“Any win is a big win right now for us,” Miller said. “If you would have tried to tell me that we were a win away or two wins away from postseason in year two — we’re ahead of schedule and I’m excited.”

Follow reporterSam Beishuizen on Twitter@Sam_Beishuizen.