Indiana University Athletics
#IUWBB Game 27 Preview: Nebraska
2/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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GAME 27
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THE OPENING TIP
Indiana will play its final regular season home game of the year on Saturday, Feb. 21, when the Hoosiers will battle Nebraska at Noon ET inside of Assembly Hall. The game can be heard on the state-wide IU Radio Network with Greg Murray on the call. The contest will also be televised on the Big Ten Network with Eric Collins and Christy Winters Scott on the broadcast.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Senior Andrea Mize will put on the Indiana uniform for her final regular season home game on Saturday. Mize will wrap up her third season with IU women’s basketball this year.
• Also being recognized for their final regular season game in Assembly Hall are juniors Nicole Bell and Claire Jakubicek. Bell and Jakubicek have been a vital part of the program for three years.
• Indiana has won 11 home games so far in 2014-15, marking the second straight year that IU has had 11 regular season home wins inside of Assembly Hall. It marks the first time since 2006-07 and 2007-08 that the Hoosiers have won at least 11 regular season games at home in back-to-back years.
• So far in 2014-15, all but five points of IU’s point production have come from either freshmen or sophomores to account for 99.7 percent of Indiana’s total points this season.
• Indiana has connected on 198 3-point field goals so far this season. That total ranks third for most 3-point field goals made in a single year in school history. With two more 3-pointers made, the 2014-15 Hoosiers will become just the third team in program history to connect on 200 or more 3-point field goals.
• As a team, the Hoosiers are shooting 73.4 percent from the free throw line this season, an improvement of 6.8 percent (66.6 percent) from a year ago. If the season ended today, that total would rank as the fourth-best team free throw percentage in school history for a single year.
• Sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 862 points so far in her young career. She is just one of only four players in the history of the program to tally 862 or more points in the first two seasons played at IU and the seventh to eclipse 800 in that time frame.
• Since being inserted into the starting lineup (11 games), sophomore Alexis Gassion has averaged 11.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game during that span.
• Freshman Amanda Cahill has recorded six double-doubles this year. She is averaging 10.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season while shooting 51.2 percent from the field.
THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 213-142 (12th year)
Indiana record: 14-12 (1st year)
Nebraska
Connie Yori
Career Record: 454-290 (25th year)
Nebraska Record: 259-150 (13th year)
NEBRASKA AT A GLANCE
The Huskers arrive in Bloomington having fell in four of their last five games, but many of those came down to the wire. Nebraska will be without their leading scorer, Rachel Theriot, who is out due to injury. She led the Huskers in scoring and assists. Her backcourt mate Tear’a Laudermill tallies 14.2 points per game and leads the team in 3-point field goals made this season. Emily Cady averages a double-double for Nebraska with 11.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field. The Husker will look to get after it defensively as they lead the Big Ten in scoring defense, giving up just 59.2 points per game to opponents while limiting foes to shoot 37.5 percent.
HIT THE GASSION PEDAL
Sophomore Alexis Gassion has started in each of the last 11 games and has averaged 11.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game during that span. She achieved her second double-double of the year at Iowa on Feb. 15 with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Gassion also added a season-high five assists with a steal against the Hawkeyes, shooting 4-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. She has scored in double figures in six of her starts and four times has had 10 of more rebounds during the last 11 games.
For the year, Gassion is averaging 8.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. In 2013-14, Gassion started in 32 contests and was IU’s second leading scorer (8.8 ppg) and rebounder (5.5 rpg).
BROOKS IN ELITE HOOSIER COMPANY
Indiana sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 862 career points to become just the seventh player in program history to ever eclipse the 800-point mark in first two seasons played at IU and only the fourth to score 862 or more in that career span.
For the year, Brooks has scored in double figures in 18 contests and leads the team with 11.8 points per game to go along with a team-best 4.0 assists per game with 1.3 steals per contest.
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).
HITTING THE FREE ONES
So far this season, Indiana is shooting 73.4 percent from the free throw line as a team. If the season ended today, that total would rank fourth for best free throw percentage in a single year in program history. Over the last five games, IU has shot 81.5 percent (53-of-65) as a team and in three of those games shot 87.5 percent or better. This year’s percentage is an improvement of 6.8 percent from a year ago when IU shot 66.6 percent.
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 198 3-point field goals this year, which ranks third for most 3-pointers made by an IU team in a single year in program history. The Hoosiers are connecting on 7.6 3-point field goals per game (3rd in B1G). In six games this year, IU has connected on 10 or more 3-pointers, including 13 vs. Illinois on Feb. 11.
Only three times in program history has an IU team hit 13 or more 3-point field goals in a game and it has happened twice this season. Indiana hit a program-record 16 3-pointers in the season opener vs. Gardner-Webb on Nov. 15.
WALTER IS GOING ON
Freshman Jess Walter has been a big contributor for the Hoosiers throughout the season. She currently is shooting 41.6 percent from 3-point range this season to rank sixth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage. In conference games only, she’s shooting 42.3 percent from long distance. At Iowa on Feb. 15, Walter tallied a career-high 18 points, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range. She has scored in double figures in eight contests this year.
MICROWAVE MCBRIDE
Sophomore Karlee McBride has stepped up her game in 2014-15. McBride is leading the IU bench in scoring with 8.5 points per game. She has scored in double figures in 11 games this season. She scored a career-high 17 points at Michigan State on Jan. 28. The Erie, Pa., native shot 7-of-12 from the field in that game with three assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block. McBride has hit multiple 3-point field goals in 10 contests so far this year.
YOUNG GUNS GETTING IT DONE
So far in 2014-15, all but five points of Indiana’s point production have come from either freshmen or sophomores. The first and second-year players have accounted for 99.7 percent of IU’s point production this season. The same can be said about nearly every statistical category as Hoosier freshmen and sophomores have accounted for all but 23 total minutes played this season. IU has had four freshmen, six sophomores and one walk-on senior see playing time this year. Due to injuries, no juniors have played yet this season for Indiana.
CLIMBING TO THE CA-HILL TOP
Freshman Amanda Cahill has recorded six double-doubles this year, the most by an Indiana player in a single year since 2008-09 (Whitney Thomas, 10). For the year, Cahill is averaging 10.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the field. Cahill stuffed the stat sheet with a double-double performance in IU’s win over Illinois on Feb. 11 as she finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high five blocks, a career-high tying three steals and three assists while shooting 6-of-8 from the field and 2-of-2 from long distance. She has scored in double figures in 15 games this year and has collected 10 rebounds or more in 10 contests to become the first player with 10 games of 10+ rebounds in the same season since Thomas in 2008-09.
PASSING THE PUMPKIN
In the win over Illinois on Feb. 11, Indiana dished for 23 assists in the game. IU has passed for 20 or more assists in eight games this year, including a pair of games with a season-high 25 assists. The last time an IU team had 20 or more assists that many times in a season was in 2000-01.
THE BUSS IS ROLLING
Freshman Tyra Buss has scored in double-figures in 18 games this season. She currently leads the team in steals (2.2 spg) and is second in scoring (11.5 ppg) while adding 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
Buss is fifth among freshmen nationally in steals. The Mt. Carmel, Ill., native has had three or more steals in 10 games and has totaled 58 steals so far this year, which is the third most ever by an IU freshman. She is the first IU player with at least 58 steals in a season since 2010-11.
ROAD TRIP HOOSIERS
The Hoosiers end the regular season playing eight of 13 contests away from Assembly Hall. That includes the current stretch in which Indiana plays five of its final seven regular season games on the road, which began at Ohio State on Feb. 8. After hosting Illinois on Feb. 11, the Hoosiers battled Iowa (Feb. 15) and Michigan (Feb. 18) on the road before now playing their home finale vs. Nebraska on Feb. 21. IU will conclude the regular season with games at Maryland on Feb. 26 and then at Rutgers on March 1.
Indiana is one of four Big Ten schools that have a five-game span with four on the road along with Illinois, Iowa and Purdue.
Media Contact: Ryan Sheets, rmsheets@indiana.edu
