It’s not common for her to have to guard a center that shoots as many 3-pointers as both the point guard and the two guard.
Despite all of this, the sophomore center will be tasked with guarding center Alex Cohen on Thursday in Assembly Hall when IU takes on Northwestern (15-6, 5-5).
It’s just one example of the many matchup issues IU (13-8, 3-7) will face against the Wildcats.
“Other than the point guard, we don’t match up with them great,” IU Coach Teri Moren said.
Anderson’s matchup, ?Cohen, is a 6-foot-5 center that prefers to play face up. She is averaging 9.6 points per game and shooting 43 percent from 3-point range.
“The thing about Jenn, she can defend them,” Moren said. “Her body can move when she wants to. It’s just when she wants to.”
Anderson said the team will have to be there when she catches the ball along the perimeter and that Cohen likes the “baby base line shot.” The team will have to box her out when she utilizes that play so she cannot get her own offensive rebounds.
In practice Wednesday, the team was running defensive drills and working on communication. Anderson was one of the loudest players on the court.
“I can be a big voice out there for everybody and let everyone know when screens are coming so we don’t have anyone getting blindsided by a screen or anything,” ?Anderson said.
Four Northwestern players standing 6-foot-1 or taller are getting at least 18 minutes per game. Despite the height, they do not play primarily as a post team or a perimeter scoring team.
“They’ve scored a lot of points, and they can score in a lot of ways,” Moren said. “We are going to have to really mix it up.”
One of those players is forward Nia Coffey, who Moren referred to as one of the best power forwards in the conference. . Sophomore guard Alexis Gassion is often in charge of covering more athletic fours, but that means sophomore forward Amanda Cahill ends up guarding the three.
Coffey is a tough matchup due to her versatility in how she scores and how she opens things up for the rest of her team.
“They can fill it up from the outside,” Moren said. “But they also have a terrific inside game because Coffey goes in and she can post you up.”
While IU attempts to figure out the defensive schemes, they have a little more confidence after a 72-55 win Monday against rival Purdue. This win came on the heels of a four-game losing streak.
Moren and Anderson have both mentioned that the team showed more toughness in being able to finally put a win together.
“We all got together and said, ‘We need to do this,’ because we were all sick and tired of losing,” Anderson said.
