IU defeats Marquette, advances in WNIT

With a one-point lead in the final seconds, the IU women’s basketball team needed a stop against Marquette.

The ball bounced out of bounds off freshman guard Taylor Agler, giving the Golden Eagles a chance to win the game.

Off the inbound pass, sophomore guard Brooklyn Pumroy’s shot in the paint fell short, and freshman guard Alexis Gassion snatched the rebound.

Gassion hit two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining as IU held on to defeat Marquette 72-69 in the second round of the WNIT.

“I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am for our team, our seniors,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “To get the chance to work with them more and continue this season is an incredible opportunity.”

Freshman guard Larryn Brooks scored a game-high 33 points for the Hoosiers (20-12), who led by as many as 22 points in the game.

After IU senior center Sasha Chaplin hit a jumper from the free throw line with seven minutes and 22 seconds remaining, Marquette (22-11) went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead to 64-61.

Agler responded with a 3-pointer to put the Hoosiers ahead by six. She was 0-for-5 from the field before hitting the shot.

“I kept telling Taylor, ‘I don’t care if you haven’t scored yet, I don’t care if you haven’t made a basket, you are going to make a huge one,’” Miller said. “And
she did.”

Marquette senior guard Katie Young responded with a 3-pointer and she scored the team’s final eight points to bring the Golden Eagles within one point before Gassion’ sealed the win.

“It’s no fluke that they made those threes down the stretch and had a chance to win, because they never quit fighting in any game you watch on film,” Miller said.

The fight the Golden Eagles displayed was evident in their work on the glass, as they outrebounded the Hoosiers 33-30.

Marquette entered the game with the second-largest rebounding margin in the country, outrebounding opponents by an average of 13.3 per game.

After the game, Miller said his team played fearlessly. That fearlessness was epitomized by Brooks’ performance.  Of Brooks’ 33 points, 22 came in the first half.

“It was really nice to get Larryn attacking and have some things happen for her,” Miller said. “She had an incredible first half.”

Brooks said the experience will help them down the stretch in the future.

“We know what Coach Miller came here to do,” Brooks said. “He wants to build on this program, and I think we’ve done that.”

IU’s 20th win is one shy of the program record for most wins in a season. Only four other teams in program history have won more games than the 2013-14 Hoosiers, and each of those teams won 21 games.

“Two years ago, six wins, and now we’re going to the third round of the WNIT,” Miller said. “Can’t be happier about that.”