Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Captures First Big Ten Win, 53-42
1/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
After scoring just one point against Purdue in her last outing, Valentin responded with her fifth game of 20 or more points this season. Senior guard LeeAnn Stephenson was the other Hoosier to score double-figures with 10 points on the night.
"The spark that Cyndi (Valentin) and LeeAnn (Stephenson) gave us to start the second half was huge in the difference of the game," said Head Coach Kathi Bennett. "It feels good to get a win, and score over 50 points."
Junior forward Angela Hawkins added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds in the winning effort. Valentin corralled six rebounds in 40 minutes of action on the night.
"We didn't play extremely well tonight, but we needed to find a way to win," added Bennett. "It's tough with Sarah (McKay) being out. It's made a difference, especially defensively, but I thought we held our own tonight. I am really proud of our post players."
The beginning of the game was a nip and tuck affair as the first seven minutes featured six lead changes and a pair of ties. Indiana grabbed a six-point lead, 14-8, after a three-point play and rebound put-back from Hawkins.
Sophomore guard Annika Boyd extended the Hoosiers lead to 16-8 with a tough jumper in the lane at 9:22.
After Boyd's basket, Northwestern went on a 10-2 run over the next 4:04 to take a 20-18 lead.
Boyd connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key to push the Hoosiers ahead 21-20, but the Wildcats regained the lead on their next possession courtesy of a basket from junior forward Ifeoma Okonkwo.
Northwestern scored the final basket of the half to take a 24-21 advantage into halftime. The Hoosiers scored just two baskets over the final 8:02 of the frame.
The Wildcats committed 12 turnovers for the half, but compensated by shooting 10-of-19 (52.9%) from the floor. IU shot 9-of-30 (30%) from the field and 2-of-9 (22.2%) from beyond the arc.
Valentin made an acrobatic three-point play, sweeping through the lane, to even the game at 24-24, two minutes into the second half. Junior forward Brigett Branson corralled her own missed shot and scored on a lay-up to move IU ahead, 26-24, at 16:30.
After a pair of IU baskets, the Wildcats ended their six minute scoring drought on a triple by senior guard Melissa Culver to make the score 30-27.
Sophomore forward Jamey Chapman saw her first action on the season after Angela Hawkins picked up her fourth foul at 12:16 of the second half. The Omaha, Neb., product scored four points and had one rebound in seven minutes of action.
Northwestern trimmed the IU lead to one, but Valentin drained back-to-back three-pointers to push the score to 36-29 at the 11:09 mark.
The Wildcats would cut the Hoosiers lead to 44-39 at 3:54, but a bucket by Hawkins and a pair of free throws from Branson put the game out of reach.
Okonkwo led Northwestern with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Hoosiers shot 11-of-22 (50 %) for the second half and hit 2-of-4 attempts from three-point distance.
The Hoosiers will remain in Assembly Hall against Penn State on Sunday, Jan. 16 at 2:00 p.m. (EST). The game can be heard locally on WHCC (105.1) with Jeremy Gray calling all of the action. The match-up will also be the first TV game for the Hoosiers this year, as it airs on WTIU.
Game Notes: Kali Kullberg had a career-high three steals; she bested her previous high of two versus Louisville on Dec. 3, 2004... the Hoosiers had 14 second chance points, as compared to seven by the Wildcats... IU tied its season-high with nine steals in the game... Cyndi Valentin has scored double-figures in 12-of-14 games this season... Valentin now needs 26 points to have 1,000 for her career.
