There were full court heaves on fast breaks and players grinning as they backpedaled after hitting a 3-pointer. Everything was clicking for IU on Wednesday night.
While the nonconference wins have been attributed to a less than challenging schedule, Big Ten struggles have often been blamed on youth.
“There’s going to come a point where we don’t call them young anymore,” IU Coach Teri Moren said.
The Hoosiers have had strong first halves before. They were tied with Minnesota at the half and trailed Ohio State by one before ?losing to both.
The difference against Illinois was that IU continued their dominance throughout. The team did not allow the Fighting Illini to make a single field goal for the 8 1/2 minutes in the second half.
“We were waiting to have a night like this, and we have been so close,” Moren said. “It feels good, for our whole group, for our staff, but ?especially for those players to come out and play both ends the way they did tonight.”
There was a moment late in the game in which freshman guard Jess Walter was running back to play defense and tipped a pass in the air that was making its way over her head.
IU did not get possession of the ball for a steal, but Walter continued running with a grin on her face as if nothing could change the fact that IU was winning — and winning big.
That sums up how this game went for IU.
Shots were falling throughout, as IU shot 55 percent from the field, and whenever Illinois would make a big play or go on a run, the Hoosiers would answer right back without issue.
In those nonconference blowouts that IU would win consistently, players like freshman Maura Muensterman and senior Andrea Mize would get some minutes late in games. Wednesday night, Muensterman checked into the game with two minutes remaining.
A fan was heard yelling, “It’s about time.”
When she scored on an inside hook shot, the crowd was as loud as it had been all night.
The result was not any different when Mize came in.
It has often been mentioned that all but two points for IU this season have come from either freshmen or sophomores. That statistic changed when Mize hit a 3-pointer with a hand in her face.
“I’m just really proud tonight of this basketball team,” Moren said.
They out-shot, out-rebounded and out-defended the Fighting Illini for 40 minutes, which has been tougher to come by in Big Ten play.
Freshman forward Amanda Cahill had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double since New Year’s Eve.
Sophomore guard Larryn Brooks, who has had up-and-down games, finished with 14 points and five assists after making her first four shots.
The team clicked, and ?every player made a basket.
Now, the Hoosiers have six games remaining in the regular season and whether or not they can build off this win will be the question.
“We have had a lot of moments where we’ve been discouraged,” Moren said. “For them to be able to come out tonight and play the way they did, I think, says a lot about the progress we have continued to make.”
