Indiana University Athletics
IU Falls to Minnesota (2-24-05)
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
"I thought our inside game in the first half hurt them, so they changed to a zone and made us take outside shots," said head coach Kathi Bennett. "We didn't knock those shots down when we needed to and I thought that was the difference in the momentum. When they changed and went to the zone, I thought that really threw us off."
Indiana rattled the Golden Gophers and overcame their size advantage in the opening minutes of the game as IU jumped out to a 10-5 lead at the 14:22 mark. Back-to-back three-point baskets from junior guard Shannon Schonrock and junior forward Shannon Bolden put Minnesota up for the first time all half, 14-11 with eight minutes remaining in the stanza. Sophomore forward Jamey Chapman came off the Hoosier bench and provided a tremendous spark, scoring six consecutive points for Indiana and putting them back on top, 17-14.
After picking up two fouls before the 9:35 mark, Minnesota was forced to play without its star player, senior center Janel McCarville for the rest of the half. IU took advantage of the situation and kept it a tight game, as they never allowed the Gophers to lead by more than three throughout the first 20 minutes of play.
"We needed to take more advantage when she (McCarville) was out in the first half," said Bennett. "Defensively we were all right the whole game. I thought we scrapped - we rebounded with them, and even had more offensive rebounds."
After a Schonrock drive to the basket put Minnesota ahead, 22-21, at the 2:09 mark in the first half, junior guard Cyndi Valentin answered back with a tre to put the lead back in IU's favor. Several fouls from the Hoosiers forced Minnesota to the free throw line, who in turn hit three free throws to close out the half holding a slim, 27-24 advantage at the break.
To open the second half of action, sophomore forward Jamie Broback nailed a three-pointer to give the Golden Gophers, a 30-24 lead just two minutes into the second half. This ignited an 8-0 for Minnesota as McCarville continued the momentum when the All-American followed up with a conventional three-point play at the 16:30 mark.
Sophomore forward Carrie Smith finally broke an almost six-minute scoring for drought for Indiana with a three-point play of her own over McCarville to put IU within 10, 37-27.
The Hoosiers cut the lead to seven, 38-31, but this was as close as they would get as Minnesota stepped up its game and soon began to put the game out of reach. They went on to score 11-straight unanswered points to go ahead, 49-31 with 3:20 left on the clock, leaving no room for IU to catch up. Its largest lead of the game grew to 19 points, 52-33, with 1:32 left to go.
Broback led the way for the Golden Gophers, notching a team-high and game-high 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Schonrock finished the night with 12 points.
Chapman led the Hoosiers in scoring with eight points, which tied her season-high. Smith and Valentin both pitched in with seven points. Junior forward Angela Hawkins corralled a team-high eight rebounds.
Despite winning the offensive glass, in the end Indiana was out rebounded, 40-30. Indiana shot a dismal .259 percent from the floor (14-for-54), while Minnesota went shot .366 from the field (15-for-41).
Indiana wraps up its regular season campaign with a home game on Sunday, Feb. 27 against Iowa. Tip off with the Hawkeyes is set to begin at 6 p.m. The game can be heard locally on WHCC (105.1) with Jeremy Gray calling all of the action.
Game Notes: This was the ninth time Indiana played a ranked opponent this season...Sophmore forward Jamie Chapman tied her season-high eight points...Sophomore Carrie Smith also tied her career-high seven rebounds.
