The Nittany Lions are tall, starting two players standing 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-6, and the resulting 23 offensive rebounds led to a 79-75 victory for Penn State.
That mismatch may be getting even worse as sophomore center Jenn Anderson might not be playing tonight when IU (14-15, 4-14) takes on Penn State to start the Big Ten Tournament at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman ?Estates, Ill.
IU Coach Teri Moren said Anderson has an outside chance at playing and she’s improving each day. Sophomore guard Larryn Brooks spoke as if it were a given that Anderson is out. She said it will be difficult as Anderson is the only player who really takes charges, and she provides toughness.
The Hoosiers are coming off two consecutive road tests in which height was an issue. Both games resulted in losses to No. 4 Maryland and No. 23 Rutgers, but rebounding was not what lost either game. They gave up only eight offensive boards to Maryland and 11 to Rutgers without Anderson in the lineup.
“Our advantage there was our ability to knock down open shots and then we were just careless with the ball,” Moren said. “It wasn’t really anything Rutgers did. It was all about us.”
It wasn’t the rebounding struggles alone that cost IU the Penn State game Jan. 22. The Hoosiers turned the ball over 14 times, and Moren said the team was careless and lacked a certain effort level on the floor.
“I’m hopeful that we reflect back on that Penn State game and understand why we lost it,” Moren said.
IU has had several games this season that were within a possession or two but did not pull it out due to one or two areas that could be fixed.
“Everything we do is correctable,” Moren said.
After giving up 72 points against Michigan State on Jan. 28, the Hoosiers kept Purdue to 55 points in the next outing. After being outrebounded by 22 on Feb. 18 against Michigan, the Hoosiers came out three days later and beat Nebraska 38-35 on the boards.
Moren said the guards need to be more involved in rebounding against Penn State as the team cannot rely just on posts like freshman forward Amanda Cahill or sophomore Lyndsay Leikem.
When Anderson did not start against Rutgers, it could have been a great opportunity for freshman guard Maura Muensterman, who has been working at the four spot, to take some of those minutes. Muensterman missed the game due to a death in the family, but Moren said she likely would have gotten more time.
Moren said Muensterman has finally become more comfortable in the zone and could stretch the defense with her ability to hit open shots. She will be back with the team against Penn State.
This is a young IU team, and Brooks is one of the few players that has experience in the Big Ten Tournament when IU lost to Michigan in the first round last year.
“We learned the hard way last year that you have to play it like it’s your last game,” Brooks said.
She said she has been trying to instill that mentality into the team this season.
If Anderson is good to go, Moren said she will play. It’s at the point in the season where the team cannot hold anything back.
“If you don’t win, you go home,” Moren said. “We want to go there and stay in Chicago and keep on making the progress that we are making.”
