During the fourth quarter of a blowout win over Northern Kentucky last Thursday, senior guard Alexis Gassion had already notched 15 rebounds.
IU women’s basketball assistant coach Janese Banks said she and graduate manager Mistie Bass jokingly told Gassion to get back out on the court and go get herself 20 boards, but the Hoosiers wound up winning by 51 and Gassion wasn’t needed much in the final frame.
Gassion completed Banks and Bass’s task just nine days later when she gathered 20 rebounds, and 15 points, in an 84-59 win over Oakland on Saturday afternoon.
The 20 rebounds for Gassion were the seventh-most ever by a Hoosier, and the most since Jill Chapman grabbed 22 boards in 1999. No other player in the Big Ten has collected as many rebounds in a game this year. Eight of her boards came on the offensive glass.
“For her just to be all over for us this year has been huge,” Banks said in a postgame radio interview. “Lex does so many silent things, and she’s such a key part for us defensively. For her to dominate the boards like she did, kudos to her.”
Possibly most impressive of all was the fact Gassion didn’t pick up a foul during 31 minutes of play. However, the disciplined defense is nothing new for the Ohio native. She now has just eight fouls in 11 games and more than 340 minutes of court time this season.
Banks said she was happy with the overall defensive effort Saturday, noting the 52-36 rebounding advantage the Hoosiers had over the Golden Grizzlies. Banks said IU focused on limiting senior forward Hannah Little’s rebounding ability. Little finished with a less than average day on the glass and collected just 10 boards.
“She was averaging 12 boards a game, so one of our focuses was how many offensive rebounds she had,” Banks said in the interview. “So then offensive rebounding became a key focus for us as well.”
Gassion is a guard, but at five-feet-eleven inches tall she has a size advantage over most who guard her. She is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game after Saturday’s performance, good for second-best on the team.
Junior forward Amanda Cahill added 10 rebounds and senior forward Jenn Anderson contributed five boards, but Gassion’s all-around defensive performance stole the show. In addition to the 20 rebounds, Gassion added two blocks and two steals.
The starting five has played a pivotal role in IU’s success this season. Gassion, Cahill and junior guard Tyra Buss have combined to play around 100 minutes per game.
With Big Ten play less than two weeks away, the Hoosiers’ reliance on their veterans only figures to increase.
