Indiana University
Northwestern
Indiana Rallies to Top Northwestern in WNIT, 66-65
3/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 27, 2014
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| Curt Miller Postgame Press Conference | Players Postgame Press Conference
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit to defeat Northwestern 66-65 Thursday night in Assembly Hall in the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). Simone Deloach gave IU its first lead of the night with a layup with 11 seconds remaining to lift IU over the Wildcats.
The Hoosiers improved to 21-12 on the season to tie the school record for most wins in a season.
Freshman Larryn Brooks led all scorers with 27 points, moving her into seventh in program history for single season scoring with 538 points.
Alexis Gassion and Lyndsay Leikem each finished with 10 points and pulled down nine and six rebounds, respectively.
Northwestern (17-16) controlled the first 10 minutes of play, but the Hoosiers managed to put together an 8-0 run sparked by a Simone Deloach layup and capped by a Gassion 3-pointer at the 7:45 mark as NU led 23-17.
The Wildcats followed with seven-straight points to extend their lead to 30-17, but IU cut the lead to eight after a 3-pointer from Leikem and a layup from Brooks with 3:59 left.
The Hoosiers committed 11 turnovers in the first and shot 39.4 percent from the field.
NU scored first coming out of the locker room, increasing the lead to eight and later on took an IU missed field goal the other way for a 3-pointer, moving the lead back to double digits with 15:18 remaining.
Agler's basket at 13:46 chipped the Wildcat lead down to nine, and after a two-minute scoring drought, a Gassion three brought IU to within six, 53-47, with 11:48 to play.
Down 63-55 with 4:28 left, Brooks scored seven-straight points and the team closed the game on an 11-2 run capped off by the game winning shot by Deloach with 11 seconds left in the game. That field goal by Deloach gave IU its first lead of the night.
A Northwestern jumper by Maggie Lyon went off the rim as Gassion secured the rebound for the win.
IU finished the game shooting 39.3 percent (24-for-61) from the field and 37.9 percent (11-for-29) from beyond the arc.
Indiana will now play in the quarterfinals of the WNIT at South Dakota State on Sunday, March 30, at 3 p.m. ET.
Postgame Notes • With the win over Northwestern, Indiana ties the school record for wins in a season with 21 and improves to 21-12 on the season. The Hoosiers have reached 21 wins four other times in program history, the last coming in 2008-09.
• Head coach Curt Miller ties the all-time postseason wins record for head coaches in program history with three since the 1983 when NCAA Tournament play began.
• The Hoosiers are now 11-6 all-time in WNIT games and 8-1 in WNIT games at Assembly Hall.
• Indiana advances to the quarterfinals of the WNIT for the third time in program history in seven WNIT appearances. The last time came in 2009.
• IU owns a 14-4 record this season at home in Assembly Hall, making it the most home wins for an Indiana team since the 1997-98 season.
• The Hoosiers trailed 63-55 with 4:28 left and closed the game on a 11-2 run capped off by the game-winning shot by senior Simone Deloach with 11 seconds left in the game to make it 66-65. That gave IU its first lead of the game.
• IU has scored 2,305 points this season which is the third-most points ever scored in a single season in program history.
• The Hoosiers have now made 826 field goals this season, that total ranks sixth in school history for most field goal made in a single year.
• Indiana freshmen scored 56 of the 66 points scored in the game.
• Indiana made 11 3-pointers in the game, marking the 11th game this season they have posted double-digit 3-pointers.
• IU has now hit 251 3-point field goals on the season added to its school record. That total ranks second all-time in Big Ten history for most 3-pointers made in a single season.
• For the Hoosiers, five players had at least five rebounds, led by Alexis Gassion with nine boards.
• Indiana held a 16-6 advantage in second chance points and outrebounded Northwestern 37-34.
• The Hoosiers are now 7-1 this season in games decided by five or fewer points and have won their three WNIT games by a combined five points.
• Freshman Larryn Brooks led Indiana with 27 points and moved into seventh on the IU's all-time single-season scoring list with 538 points.
• With her four assists, Brooks set the Indiana freshman record for assists in a season with 150. The 150 assists are tied for third among all players for a single-season.
• Brooks set the freshman record for 3-pointers made in a season with 65, which is tied for fifth among all players for a single-season.
• For Brooks it was her 10th game of the season scoring 20 or more points.
• Freshman Alexis Gassion scored 10 points, marking her 12th game this season scoring in double-figures. Gassion also pulled down nine rebounds.
• Freshman Lyndsay Leikem scored 10 points, marking her sixth game this season scoring in double-figures. Leikem also grabbed six rebounds.
• Freshman Taylor Agler scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds for the Hoosiers.
• Senior Tabitha Gerardot scored six points and added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Senior Simone Deloach scored four points, including the game-winning basket and added six rebounds.
