Victory ends 4 years of frustration
INDIANAPOLIS -- They did it. They finally did it.
INDIANAPOLIS -- They did it. They finally did it.
The Big Ten championships continue today and tomorrow, as the Hoosiers try to rise up the leader board and forge a top finish. The fifth place Hoosiers trail first place Minnesota by 75 points with a 122 score.
Any piece -- no matter if it's divided two, three or four ways -- is better than none. Ask IU, which looked primed for its first Big Ten championship since 1993 before losing back-to-back games at Michigan State and No. 15 Illinois. IU muffed its chances to win the league outright, but the No. 25 Hoosiers get one more crack at halting the nine-year Big Ten drought at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when they welcome Northwestern to Assembly Hall on Senior Day. With a victory, IU will guarantee itself at least a share of the Big Ten crown.
A sign in the women's basketball locker room reads "Did You Forget?" with the score of the Hoosiers' most recent game in a Big Ten tournament -- an 81-76 loss to Iowa. Senior point guard Heather Cassady hasn't forgotten. She wouldn't forget a painful, five-point defeat to the eventual tournament champion. Even more tortuous is the fact that the Hoosiers allowed an 18-point halftime lead to collapse.
This weekend is the last chance for track and field athletes to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. With the cancellation of last weekend's Big Ten Championships because of the tragic death of Penn State pole vaulter Kevin Dare, only a few Hoosiers have met the marks required to get into nationals. Therefore, several men's IU track and field athletes will travel to two different venues this weekend in attempts to meet or beat the qualifying standards in their events.
The men's hockey club appeared in top form Thursday in its second game of the ACHA Hockey Division II National Championships in New York. The Hoosiers routed Franklin Pierce College 15-2. Senior Chad Whitlock stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief of starting goaltender Josh Block. The Hoosiers improve to 2-0 in first-round action. Several forwards had big offensive days, starting with senior Brandon Phillips, who had two goals and four assists. Freshman David Ravensberg picked up a hat trick and an assist in the effort, while the team's leading scorer, Bryan Grant, added a goal and four assists of his own.
After battling severely cold weather conditions at the University of New Mexico Lobo Invitational and 36 consecutive hours of rain in Tampa, Fla., that caused the cancellation of a majority of the slated games, the IU softball team is hoping for a chance for steady weather this Saturday. The Hoosiers are scheduled to compete in a double-header against Western Michigan at the IU Softball Field.
The IU women's tennis team travels out of state to take on Illinois State and conference-rival Iowa this weekend. This is the Hoosiers' first venture out of state this spring. IU heads to ISU Friday before competing against Iowa Sunday morning.
The IU men's tennis team (6-3) battles Northwestern Saturday in a match at noon that begins a four-game road trip. This is the first Big Ten match of the season for the Hoosiers, while the Wildcats (8-3) possess a 3-0 record in conference play. Coach Ken Hydinger, in his 18th season at IU, stressed the importance of this early conference season clash. "It's going to be a dogfight," Hydinger said. "Everybody in the Big Ten will be ready, no matter what record they have."
The IU baseball team is ready to get back to action after having its last five games cancelled or postponed because of rain or snow. The undefeated Hoosiers (2-0) travel to Johnson City, Tenn., Friday to face the 3-3 East Tennessee State Buccaneers in a four-game series. The series begins a stretch of 12 consecutive games played away from Sembower Field. But Coach Bob Morgan said IU is eager to play.
Women's track and field athletes will join their male counterparts at two separate competitions this weekend for one last try to qualify for the NCAA Champion-ships. Five Hoosiers are traveling to Iowa to compete in the Cyclone National Track & Field Qualifier at Iowa State.
The only time in 96 years of basketball four teams tied for the Big Ten championship, was when Chicago went 4-8 in the league and Michigan State wasn't a member of the conference. It's been 76 years since IU, Purdue, Michigan and Iowa all tallied 8-4 league records on their way to sharing the title four ways.
Two weeks ago, senior guard Dane Fife and the Hoosiers methodically picked apart Michigan to set up a game between IU and Ohio State, the then-top two teams in the Big Ten. Although the Hoosiers had to play without Jared Jeffries for much of the game against the Wolverines, IU was determined to get to the game with the Buckeyes tied at 9-4 in the conference. "We're fighting for a Big Ten championship," Fife said after the win in Ann Arbor. "That's something we haven't been able to say generally coming into Ann Arbor. This is a very special season for us. That's why we came in and played so hard and played so well."
Yesterday's baseball game against DePauw University was postponed until Thursday, March 21 because of snow. This is the fifth consecutive game to be cancelled for IU, which continues to look to improve its two-game winning streak.
Last year's lone IU softball player to make First Team All-Big Ten, senior catcher Brooke Monroe, is beginning her season with the work ethic that has gotten her recognition in her three prior seasons as a Hoosier.
Commitment to tennis, respect of the game, excellence and the belief that the human spirit can accomplish what they desire if they are willing to pay the price. This sentence on the men's tennis team's Web site explains the philosophy of coach Ken Hydinger, and it describes senior Ari Widlansky, too. Widlansky exemplifies the above qualities. He is a piece in the IU tennis program puzzle, and his attitude mirrors that of his coach.
There are only three competing members of the men's diving team. But even with a small roster, the Hoosiers have big expectations for this weekend's Big Ten Championship. "Our attitude is just to be really focused on the things we really want to be doing," Coach Jeff Huber said. "We need to be ready to dive tough in competition, and I think we are. We don't have as many athletes in the event as the women's (team does), but the depth is still there."
Much hullabaloo has been made about the strength -- or maybe weakness -- of Big Ten men's basketball. But the women's conference could have nearly as much trouble qualifying more than three teams for the NCAA tournament, depending on which Big Ten coach you ask. IU coach Kathi Bennett said she thinks her fifth-place Hoosiers (14-13, 8-8 Big Ten) have a shot -- if they reach, but more likely if they win, the Big Ten tournament final at Conseco Fieldhouse Monday.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- This time it wasn't a second-half collapse and foul trouble for the Hoosiers' best player that did IU in. And it wasn't even close enough for the Hoosiers to have a last-second shot to send the game into overtime. But IU had its chances. Instead the only constant the last two games for the Hoosiers is they have found another way to drop another game they desperately needed and could have won.
Baseball game posponed because of snow storm Yesterday's baseball game against Indiana Wesleyan was postponed until Monday, March 25 because of the snow storm.