Indiana University Athletics
#IUWBB Game 12 Preview: No. 17/18 Rutgers
12/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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GAME 12
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THE OPENING TIP
Indiana opens Big Ten play in Assembly Hall vs. No. 17/18 Rutgers on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. ET. The game can be heard on the state-wide IU Radio Network with Greg Murray on the call. The contest will also be available as a live web broadcast on BTN Plus.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Sunday’s game marks the first ever Big Ten contest for Rutgers.
• Rutgers has never played in Assembly Hall and it will be just the second meeting ever between the Hoosiers and Scarlet Knights as the two schools met in the Preseason WNIT in Nov. 1998.
• Indiana has scored 80 or more points in eight out of 11 games this season and is averaging 84.6 points per game.
• The Hoosiers ended non-conference play with a 10-1 record, marking the fifth time in program history that IU has won 10 or more non-Big Ten regular season games in a single year and the first time in school history IU has won 10 or more non-league games in back-to-back years.
• IU tied its season high with 25 assists at Oakland on Dec. 20. It marked the sixth time this year that Indiana has dished for 20 or more assists. Those six games of 20 assists or more are the most in a season for a Hoosier team since 2005-06.
• The Hoosiers lead the Big Ten with 18.6 assists per game (9th nationally) and they also pace the conference in assist-turnover ratio at 1.4 (8th).
• Indiana had 11 steals at Oakland, marking IU’s seventh game this year with 10 or more thefts. Those seven games are a program best in a single season since 2011-12.
• In the last three games, Indiana’s bench has averaged 37.3 points per game. At Oakland, the Hoosier reserves tallied a season-high 48 points as Jess Walter and Karlee McBride each tallied double-figure points.
• At Oakland last time out, Amanda Cahill achieved her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. For the year, Cahill is averaging 11.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
• Larryn Brooks notched her third career double-double at Oakland with 11 points and a career-high tying 10 assists. Brooks is averaging 13.5 points and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 51.4 percent overall and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
• Walter tallied a career-high 16 points in her home state at Oakland, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She also added four rebounds and two steals.
THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 209-131 (12th year)
Indiana record: 10-1 (1st year)
Rutgers
C. Vivian Stringer
Career Record: 938-343 (44th year)
Rutgers Record: 418-208 (20th year)
RUTGERS AT A GLANCE
Rutgers will play its first Big Ten Conference game on Sunday in Bloomington. The Scarlet Knights’ only two losses this year came to ranked teams by a combined 13 points. RU distributes the ball well, averaging 17.8 assists per game as a team and will look to drive to the paint as the team has hit only 26 3-point field goals on 75 attempts this season. Rutgers also gets after it defensively as it averaged 11.3 steals per contest. Tyler Scaife leads the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game. Betnijah averages a double-double with 15.2 points and 12.8 rebounds per game while shooting 53.2 percent from the field. Cahleah Copper is also a double-figure scorer with 14.7 points per contest.
BIG TEN PLAY BEGINS
Sunday’s game not only marks the start of Big Ten play for Indiana for the 2014-15 season, but also the first ever Big Ten Conference game for visiting Rutgers. Rutgers University joined the conference on July 1, 2014. This season is the 33rd year of Big Ten play for Indiana women’s basketball. Last season, the Hoosiers won their most Big Ten Conference games since 2009-10. This year, the league also moves to an 18-game schedule for the first time since 2009-10.
STRONG NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Indiana finished its non-conference schedule with a 10-1 record, marking the second straight year that the Hoosiers won at least 10 non-Big Ten regular season contests. The last two years are the first time in program history that IU has won 10 or more non-conference regular season games in back-to-back seasons as the Hoosiers won a school-record 13 non-league games a year ago.
GETTING OFFENSIVE
• Indiana has scored 80 or more points in eight games this year and is averaging 84.6 points per game (2nd in B1G).
• Three times this year IU has scored 97 or more points, marking the first time in program history an Indiana team has tallied 97 or more points three times in the same season. Only five times prior to this year has a Hoosier team scored 90 or more on three occasions in the same year.
• In five games this year, IU has had five or more players score in double figures, including two contests where six players tallied double digits. The last time Indiana had five games of five or more double-figure scorers came during the 2006-07 season. Prior to this season, the last time Indiana had six players score in double-figures in the same game was Nov. 14, 2008 vs. Ball State.
• Indiana shot 54.5 percent in the win at Oakland on Dec. 20. Four times this year the Hoosiers have shot over 50 percent from the field. For the season, the Hoosiers are shooting 48.5 percent as a team to rank second in the Big Ten and in the top 10 nationally.
PASSING THE PUMPKIN
Last week at Oakland, the Hoosiers tied their season high of 25 assists in the game and it marked the sixth time in 2014-15 that IU has dished for 20 or more assists. The last time an IU team had 20 or more assists that many times in a season was in 2005-06 when Indiana dished for 20+ dimes seven times that year.
The Hoosiers lead the Big Ten and rank in the top 10 nationally with 18.6 assists per game.
THE BENCH PRESS
In the last three games, Indiana’s bench averaged 37.3 points per game, including a season-high 48 points at Oakland on Dec. 20. In that game, Jess Walter (16 points) and Karlee McBride (14 points) each tallied double-figure points in a reserve role. For the season, Indiana’s bench is averaging 28.4 points per game.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE
Land phone lines are thing of the past, but the Hoosiers are still dialing long distance in 2014-15. IU has hit 90 3-point field goals through 11 games this year, ahead of last year’s record-setting pace when Indiana hit a program record 259 3-point field goals (2nd highest total in Big Ten history). Last year through 11 games, IU hit 78 3-pointers. The Hoosiers are shooting 36.6 percent from long distance as a team and are connecting on 8.2 3-point field goals per game (2nd in B1G). In three games this year, IU has connected on 10 or more 3-pointers.
PROTECTING THE PUMPKIN
The Hoosiers are also taking care of the basketball so far this season as IU leads the Big Ten and ranks in the top 10 in assist-turnover ratio (1.4). The Hoosiers are second in the conference in fewest turnovers per game (13.6) and third in turnover margin (+5.7).
LIMITING FOES
As a team, IU is limiting opponents to shoot just 35.2 percent from the field. Six times this year, the Indiana defense has held opponents to less than 35 percent from the field. By comparison, IU held seven opponents under 35 percent shooting last year, and this year IU has accomplished that feat six times.
Indiana’s defense has held opponents to shoot 25 percent or less from 3-point range in all but three games this year, including three contests of 12 percent or lower. For the year, IU opponents are shooting only 22.8 percent from 3-point range, that total ranks ninth nationally and it leads the Big Ten in that category.
BEWARE OF STEALERS
IU has had 10 or more steals in seven games this season, including 18 steals in each of the first two games of the year, marking the first time in program history an IU team had 18 or more steals in back-to-back games. The 18 steals tied for the fourth-most steals in a single game in program history. Prior to this season, the last time an Indiana team had 18 steals in a game was Dec. 5, 2007 vs. Dayton (18).
Indiana is averaging 10.5 steals per game. The last time an IU team had seven games of 10 or more steals in the same year came during the 2011-12 season.
LARRYN LIGHTING IT UP
Indiana sophomore Larryn Brooks continues to improve her game. For the year, Brooks has scored in double figures in all but two games this year and is averaging 13.5 points, 4.6 assists (leads team), 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range. Brooks has hit three or more 3-point field goals in five games this year. Last time out at Oakland, Brooks scored 11 points and dished for 10 assists for third career double-double performance.
Brooks had one of the most productive seasons by any freshman in the history of the program last year. She broke the IU freshman scoring record, tallying 554 points (7th on school single season list), breaking a 34-year-old freshman record held by Dorothy Reffel who scored 454 points in 1979-80. She was the first freshman in program history to ever eclipse 500 points in a season. Brooks also set freshman marks for 3-pointers made with 67 (T-4th), assists with 154 (3rd) and free throws made with 129. Brooks led the Hoosiers in scoring (16.3 ppg), field goals made (179), 3-point field goals made, 3-point field goal percentage (.379), free throws made, free throw percentage (.832) and assists.
Brooks earned Second Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors last season. She was the first Hoosier to earn second team all-conference honors since 2011 (Jori Davis) and just the fifth freshman ever at IU to be named to the conference’s all-freshman squad and the first since 2006 (Whitney Thomas).
CLIMBING TO THE CA-HILL TOP
Freshman Amanda Cahill has recorded four double-doubles this year and is averaging 11.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field. Cahill has scored in double figures in all but two games this year and has collected 10 rebounds or more in six contests to become the first player with six games of 10+ rebounds in the same season since Sasha Chaplin in 2011-12. Last time out at Oakland, Cahill scored 15 points and grabbed 10 boards for her fourth double-double.
THE BUSS IS ROLLING
Freshman Tyra Buss has scored in double-figures in every game but two this season and currently leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg) and steals (3.5 spg), while adding 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Buss ranks in the top 10 nationally in steals. Buss has had three or more steals in seven games and has totaled 39 steals so far this year. Her 39 thefts are the most by an Indiana player since 2010-11 (Jori Davis, 52).
Twice this year, Buss has earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors (Nov. 17, Nov. 24). She became the first IU player to ever receive Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on consecutive occasions and the second Hoosier to earn the award twice in the same season (Larryn Brooks, 2013-14). Buss became the first Indiana player to earn conference weekly laurels in back-to-back weeks since Cyndi Valentin was named Big Ten Player of the Week two straight times in 2005-06.
JENN BECOMING A GEM
Sophomore Jenn Anderson has started in each game this year and has made her presence known so far in 2014-15. Anderson is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage as she is shooting 61.3 percent from the field while averaging 10.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game She has scored in double-figures in six games this year.
Media Contact: Ryan Sheets, rmsheets@indiana.edu
