Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
1-0
TENNESSEE STATE
0-1
Indiana Defeats Tennessee State, Advances In WNIT
11/13/2015 2:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The only thing that got in the way of Indiana's 88-56 win against Tennessee State was a 15-minute halftime break.
The Hoosiers led the Tigers 50-14 in the opening half of Friday's Preseason WNIT opening-round win before coming out of the break sluggish. Tennessee State kept up with IU in the third quarter, losing the stanza by just two points in what proved to be a 32-point Hoosier victory.
It was one of head coach Teri Moren's few complaints on an otherwise strong day for the Hoosiers. Indiana will host Chattanooga at 7 p.m. next Tuesday at Assembly Hall in the WNIT's second round.
"I liked the way we played in the first half in particular," Moren said. "We've got to clean some things up in the second half and do a much better job come Tuesday night."
Tennessee State (0-1) shot just 5-of-31 in the opening half while turning the ball over 14 times as Indiana (1-0) built its 36-point halftime lead. The Hoosiers finished the first two quarters with as many points off free throws, 14, as the Tigers had total points.
Indiana's third quarter lead was as high as 45 points before Tennessee State rattled off a 17-0 run to cut IU's lead to 64-36 with just over three minutes left in the quarter. The Hoosiers put an end to the Tigers' run there, scoring six unanswered points to head into the fourth quarter with a 70-36 lead.
"I think at the beginning our defense went really well and we were talking a lot and that was kind of helping us turn defense into offense," sophomore forward Amanda Cahill said. "In the second half, we struggled a little bit more with that and our communication started to lack a little bit."
Even with the brief lapse—which only lasted four minutes—Indiana had done more than enough damage in the first half to win comfortably.
"I thought we were careless with the ball a lot in the third quarter, so we've got to clean that up," Moren said. "I thought it was a good, solid win. A solid first half for us and it was a good thing we had a lead there because I thought Tennessee State did a good job of coming back and really started to put some pressure on us."
Sophomore guard Tyra Buss led the Hoosiers in scoring with 21 points, eight assists and six steals after a 31-point outing in IU's exhibition win against Slippery Rock. She scored nine of her points at the free throw line.
In her regular-season Indiana debut, junior transfer guard Tyshee Towner started the game and chipped in 18 points off an efficient 6-of-10 shooting. She had a 7-0 run by herself in the third quarter to help Indiana reach its 45-point lead and took over as Indiana's backup point guard whenever Buss needed to rest.
Moren said Towner suffered from facing a "deer in the headlights" situation in her preseason debut against Slippery Rock, but she didn't show any signs of discomfort in Friday's win. She managed to slash and attack the basket to create easy offense for herself around the rim.
"It was great being on the court," Towner said. "I'm very comfortable. It feels like home."
All nine Hoosiers on the available roster played in the win. Four of them—Buss, Towner, Cahill and junior forward Alexis Gassion—finished with double-digit scoring.
And while a third quarter lapse is certainly something Indiana will look to clean up next week, it didn't affect Friday's outcome much. The Hoosiers will continue on in the WNIT back at Assembly Hall next Tuesday night.
"It's all about the future, so we've got to make sure we keep our minds in it and keep preparing ourselves for the next game," Cahill said. "I think that's something we can definitely improve on."
