Indiana University Athletics
#IUWBB Game 28 Preview: at No. 5 Maryland
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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GAME 28
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THE OPENING TIP
Indiana will end the regular season with two road games beginning at No. 5 Maryland on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. ET inside the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md. 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?
• 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 207 3-point field goals so far this season. That total ranks second for most 3-point field goals made in a single year in school history.
• IU needs 16 more 3-point makes in its final two regular season games to tie the regular season school record for most 3-pointers made. Indiana hit 223 3-pointers during regular season play a year ago.
• As a team, the Hoosiers are shooting 73.3 percent from the free throw line this season, an improvement of 6.7 percent (66.6 percent) from a year ago. If the season ended today, that total would tie for the fourth-best team free throw percentage in school history for a single year.
• Sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 879 points so far in her young career. She is just one of only three players in the history of the program to tally 879 or more points in the first two seasons played at IU and the seventh to eclipse 800 in that time frame.
• Brooks leads IU with 12.0 points per game and 4.0 assists. She has scored in double figures in 19 games this year, including four of the last five contests. Last week alone, Brooks shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from 3-point range in IU’s two games. She shot 4-of-6 from long distance at Michigan and 5-of-7 from 3-point range vs. Nebraska.
• Since being inserted into the starting lineup (12 games), sophomore Alexis Gassion has averaged 10.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game during that span.
• Freshman Amanda Cahill has recorded six double-doubles this year. She is averaging 10.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field.
• In the last three games, Jess Walter has averaged 13.7 points while shooting 72.7 percent from 3-point range and 56.5 percent overall. Last time out vs. Nebraska, the freshman tallied 16 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field with a pair of treys with three rebounds, two assists, a career-high two blocks and a steal.
THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 213-143 (12th year)
Indiana record: 14-13 (1st year)
Maryland
Brenda Frese
Career Record: 387-133 (16th year)
Maryland Record: 330-103 (13th year)
MARYLAND AT A GLANCE
Maryland has already won the Big Ten regular season championship as it has a 16-0 record in conference games. The Terrapins downed Penn State, 65-34, in their last game. Maryland leads the Big Ten in scoring (81.3 ppg), scoring margin (+20.8), free throw percentage (.751), field goal percentage (.482), 3-point field goal defense (.285), rebounding margin (+11.4) and offensive rebounds (16.0). Shatori Walker-Kimbrough leads the Terps in scoring with 14.0 ppg while shooting 55.1 percent from the field. Other double digit scorers for UM include Laurin Mincy (13.3 ppg), Lexis Brown (13.0 ppg) and Brionna Jones (12.8 ppg). Brown paces the team in assists, steals and 3-point field goals made as Brionna Jones hits 59.3 percent of her shots and leads the team in blocks and rebounds.
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 207 3-point field goals this year, which ranks second for most 3-pointers made by an IU team in a single year in program history. The Hoosiers are connecting on 7.7 3-point field goals per game (3rd in B1G). Indiana needs 16 3-pointer made in the final two regular season games to tie the regular season record of 223 treys made from a year ago.
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 and nailed 13 vs. Illinois on Feb. 11. In six games this year, IU has connected on 10 or more 3-pointers.
BROOKS IN ELITE HOOSIER COMPANY
Indiana sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 879 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 third to score 879 or more in that career span.
For the year, Brooks has scored in double figures in 19 contests and leads the team with 12.0 points per game to go along with a team-best 4.0 assists per game with 1.2 steals per contest. She has scored in double figures in four of the last five games, including a game-high 17 points and five assists vs. Nebraska last time out while shooting 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
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).
HIT THE GASSION PEDAL
Sophomore Alexis Gassion has started in each of the last 12 games and has averaged 10.9 points, 8.3 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 12 games.
For the year, Gassion is averaging 8.4 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).
WALTER IS GOING ON
Freshman Jess Walter has been a big contributor for the Hoosiers throughout the season. She currently is shooting 42.0 percent from 3-point range this season to rank sixth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage. In the last three games, Walter has averaged 13.7 points per game while shooting 72.7 percent from 3-point range and 56.5 percent from the field overall. Last time out vs. Nebraska, Walter scored 16 points with two blocks and a steal while shooting 5-of-9 from the field with a pair of treys. 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 nine 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 8.2 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 10.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field. Last time out vs. Nebraska, Cahill just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds with three assists, two steals and a block. She has scored in double figures in 16 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.
THE BUSS IS ROLLING
Freshman Tyra Buss has scored in double-figures in 18 games this season. She currently leads the team in steals (2.1 spg) and is second in scoring (11.4 ppg) while adding 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 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.
HITTING THE FREE ONES
So far this season, Indiana is shooting 73.3 percent from the free throw line as a team. If the season ended today, that total would tie for fourth for best free throw percentage in a single year in program history. This year’s percentage is an improvement of 6.7 percent from a year ago when IU shot 66.6 percent.
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 playing the 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
