Down 66-60 to Illinois with 3:15 to go in Wednesday’s game in Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers sent sophomore guard Tyra Buss to the line in hopes of igniting a run to help win the game it had been losing for the last two quarters.
That is exactly what they did.
Buss hit both free throws, the Hoosiers forced two Illini turnovers and junior guard Karlee McBride put up a 3-point shot that went through the net and gave IU a 67-66 lead. IU would eventually win by a score of 68-66.
“Every game is big for us, especially these games where the teams are either below us or equal with us in the Big Ten,” sophomore forward Amanda Cahill said.
The shots were big and the game was big, IU Coach Teri Moren said.
With IU entering the game at 2-4 in Big Ten play, the Hoosiers needed to beat a team like Illinois, who sported a Big Ten record of 1-5.
They especially did not want to lose to a team below them, Moren said, and lose more ground in the Big Ten.
The Big Ten title appears to be a four-team race between Maryland (5-1), Purdue (5-1), Ohio State (5-1) and Michigan State (5-2).
The remaining 10 teams in the Big Ten were looking from the outside in with conference records 3-3 and below, and IU was no exception.
The team that lost Wednesday night’s game in Assembly Hall would likely remain at the bottom of the standings come postseason play.
“It’s huge,” Moren said. “Certainly you want to beat the teams below you and compete with everybody else, but this is a really good league.”
With four of the bottom 10 teams losing Wednesday, including Illinois, IU now jumps to ninth in the conference with a 3-4 record — tied with Rutgers and Iowa.
“It doesn’t matter, night in and night out, who you’re facing,” Moren said. “We have tremendous coaches and tremendous players. This is one of the best conferences in the country. Any win is good. I don’t care if you’re on the road — if you’re at home — any win in the Big Ten is good.”
Wednesday’s win gives IU its ninth straight win in Assembly Hall, dating back to last season.
The win also pushes its home record to 8-0 on the season, setting the stage for its next two home games against Rutgers and Iowa — the two teams its currently tied with in the conference standings.
“Those are games that we need to win and then pull off some upsets against some of the other teams,” Cahill said. “That’s what’s going to keep us going and get us a good seed for the tournament — and hopefully get us in the NCAA Tournament.”
