IU Defeats Penn State, Sets Regular Season Wins Record

Saturday, February 27

Bloomington, Ind.

4 pm

Indiana University

20-10, 12-6

PENN STATE

11-18, 6-12

Penn State

Indiana

IU Defeats Penn State, Sets Regular Season Wins Record

2/27/2016 6:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana did all it could to earn a double-bye in next week's Big Ten Tournament.

Now the waiting begins.

The Hoosiers upended Penn State 76-55 at Assembly Hall Saturday afternoon to secure their first undefeated home season in program history. IU's 20 victories sets a single regular season season school win record.

But Indiana won't know whether it's a 4-seed or a 5-seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis until Sunday afternoon. If Maryland defeats Minnesota to claim the Big Ten outright in College Park, Maryland, IU will take the 4-seed and the double-bye that comes with it. A Minnesota win would push the Hoosiers into the 5-seed and a set up a second-round matchup against the winner of the Northwestern-Wisconsin game Wednesday afternoon.

"We've done what we're supposed to do," head coach Teri Moren said. "All that other stuff is going to take care of itself."

Indiana (20-10, 12-6) didn't have much trouble knocking off Penn State (11-18, 6-12) on Senior Day. The Hoosiers led the Lady Lions wire-to-wire, jumping out to an 8-0 run to start the game and not slowing up much after that.

Five different Hoosiers finished with double-digit scoring, led by 16 from sophomore guard Tyra Buss. Fellow sophomore Amanda Cahill led the way in the post with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Alexis Gassion (13), junior forward Jenn Anderson (11) and freshman forward Kym Royster (10) rounded out the double-figure scoring.

"I thought we came out with a purpose," Buss said.

Indiana didn't give up an offensive rebound in the first half, had 22 assists on 28 field goals and had just five turnovers compared to Penn State's 12. The Hoosiers made 15-of-19 free throws, led by as many as 30 points late in the third quarter and managed to play every active player on the roster.

In virtually every major statistical category, the Hoosiers were dominant.

It made for a stress-free game that had Moren joking that she only wishes Gassion would have converted on an alley-oop layup at the halftime buzzer. It was one of the lone imperfections on an otherwise complete game.

"If Lex would have hit the alley-oop, I would have been a heck of a lot happier," Moren joked. "You draw up a play over there for a last second shot and you execute it."

All told, the only thing that went wrong for the Hoosiers Saturday afternoon came in a game they couldn't control. While Indiana went into the locker room with a 44-19 lead at halftime, Michigan State was finishing up a triple-overtime win over Ohio State to erase any chance of IU taking the 3-seed in the conference tournament.

For the time being, the Hoosiers have turned into Terrapins fans.

"I think we'll definitely be tuned in," Cahill said.