Indiana University Athletics
#IUWBB Game 29 Preview: at No. 20/18 Rutgers
2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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GAME 29
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THE OPENING TIP
Indiana will wrap up the regular season schedule on Sunday, March 1 on the road at No. 20/18 Rutgers inside the Rutgers Athletic Center 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 is also available as a live web broadcast on BTN Plus.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Indiana has connected on 216 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. The school record is 259 (34 games), but 223 3-pointers made is the highest total made for regular season games only. IU just needs seven to tie.
• So far in 2014-15, all but five points of IU’s point production have come from either freshmen or sophomores to account for 99.8 percent of Indiana’s total points this season.
• As a team, the Hoosiers are shooting 73.6 percent from the free throw line this season, an improvement of 7.0 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.
• In Big Ten games only, Indiana is shooting 75.8 percent from the free throw line to lead the conference.
• Sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 892 points so far in her young career. She is just one of only three players in the history of the program to tally 892 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 12.1 points per game and 3.9 assists. She has scored in double figures in 20 games this year, including five of the last six contests. In her last three games, Brooks has shot 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from beyond the arc.
• Sophomore Karlee McBride scored a career-high 18 points at No. 5 Maryland on Thursday, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. She tallied eight straight points for IU in stretch of less than two minutes during the second half against the Terps. McBride leads the Hoosier bench with 8.6 points per game this year.
• Since being inserted into the starting lineup (13 games), sophomore Alexis Gassion has averaged 10.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game during that span.
• In the last three games, Jess Walter has averaged 12.5 points per game while shooting 64.3 percent from 3-point range and 50 percent overall. She is sixth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.417).
THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 213-144 (12th year)
Indiana record: 14-14 (1st year)
Rutgers
C. Vivian Stringer
Career Record: 949-349 (44th year)
Rutgers Record: 429-215 (20th year)
RUTGERS AT A GLANCE
Rutgers is returning home after back-to-back road losses at Michigan State and Northwestern. The Scarlet Knights get after it defensively, holding opponents to shoot just 36.6 percent from the field (leads B1G), giving up just 60.2 points each game (2nd in B1G) and robbing 10.4 steals per game (3rd in B1G). Rutgers is led in scoring by Kahleah Copper and Betnijah Laney who both average 16.1 points per game. Laney averages a double-double as she also pulls down 10.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 50.6 percent from the field. Tyler Scaife adds 14.6 points per game. Syessence Davis leads the conference in steals with 3.4 per game while also pacing the team in assists with 4.2 per contest.
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 216 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 seven 3-pointers at Rutgers 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 892 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 892 or more in that career span.
For the year, Brooks has scored in double figures in 20 contests and leads the team with 12.1 points per game to go along with a team-best 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals per contest. She has scored in double figures in five of the last six games, including 13 points at No. 5 Maryland last time out. Over the last three games, Brooks shot 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from beyond the arc.
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 13 games and has averaged 10.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game during that span. She scored 10 points at No. 5 Maryland last time out with five boards and a block. Gassion has scored in double figures in seven of her starts and four times has had 10 of more rebounds during the last 13 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).
MICROWAVE MCBRIDE
Sophomore Karlee McBride has stepped up her game in 2014-15, including a big night at No. 5 Maryland on Feb. 26. In that game, McBride tallied a career-high 18 points while shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. At one point, McBride scored eight-straight points for the Hoosiers in less than two minutes to pull IU with four of the Terps midway through the second half.
McBride is leading the IU bench in scoring with 8.6 points per game. She has scored in double figures in 12 games this season. McBride has hit multiple 3-point field goals in 11 contests so far this year, including at career-high four at Maryland.
WALTER IS GOING ON
Freshman Jess Walter has been a big contributor for the Hoosiers throughout the season. She currently is shooting 41.7 percent from 3-point range this season to rank sixth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage. In the last four games, Walter has averaged 12.5 points per game while shooting 64.3 percent from 3-point range and 50 percent from the field overall. Against Nebraska on Feb. 21, 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.
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 99.8 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, 8.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field. On Feb. 21 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 19 games this season. She currently leads the team in steals (2.1 spg) and is second in scoring (11.3 ppg) while adding 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
Buss is sixth among freshmen nationally in steals. The Mt. Carmel, Ill., native has had three or more steals in 10 games and has totaled 60 steals so far this year, which is the third most ever by an IU freshman. She is the first IU player with at least 60 steals in a season since 2010-11.
HITTING THE FREE ONES
So far this season, Indiana is shooting 73.6 percent from the free throw line as a team. If the season ended today, that total would rank fourth for the best free throw percentage in a single year in program history. This year’s percentage is an improvement of 7.0 percent from a year ago when IU shot 66.6 percent.
In Big Ten games only, Indiana leads the conference in free throw shooting, connecting on 75.8 percent of its attempts in those games.
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.
THE BENCH PRESS
In 22 games this year, the Indiana bench has outscored its opponent’s, including a 27-4 advantage at No. 5 Maryland last time out. Hoosier reserves are averaging 23.1 points per game as Karlee McBride leads IU’s bench scoring with 8.6 points per game.
Media Contact: Ryan Sheets, rmsheets@indiana.edu
