Indiana University Athletics
#IUWBB B1G Tournament Preview: Penn State
3/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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BIG TEN TOURNAMENT • March 4-8, 2015 |
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THE OPENING TIP
Indiana, the 12th seed, will open Big Ten Tournament play against 13th-seeded Penn State on Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m. ET inside Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The game can be heard on the IU Radio Network with Greg Murray on the call and is also available as a live web broadcast on BTN Plus. The winner between IU and PSU will move on to battle fifth-seeded Rutgers on Thursday, March 5.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Indiana is 14-19 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament and took home the tournament championship in 2002.
• IU and Penn State are meeting for the fifth time in Big Ten Tournament play and are facing off for the first time in the conference tourney since 2004. PSU holds a 3-1 edge in previous tournament meetings.
• The Hoosiers knocked off PSU in the championship game of the 2002 Big Ten Tournament, 75-72, to take the tournament title.
• Head coach Teri Moren is making her debut in the Big Ten Tournament. Her Indiana State squad from a year ago was the top seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in 2014.
• Indiana connected on 223 3-point field goals during the regular season. That total ranks second for most 3-point field goals made in a single year in school history. The school record is 259 made 3-pointers from a year ago in 34 games. IU's 223 this year in the regular season tied last year's regular season total.
• Coming into the tournament, 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 74.0 percent from the free throw line this season, an improvement of 7.4 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 during the regular season, Indiana shot 76.3 percent from the free throw line to lead the conference.
• Sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 899 points so far in her young career. She is just one of only three players in the history of the program to tally 899 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 for the final 15 games of the regular season, sophomore Alexis Gassion averaged 10.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game during that span.
• Freshman Amanda Cahill had six double-doubles this year and averaged 10.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game during the regular season while shooting 50.2 percent from the field.
THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 213-145 (12th year)
Indiana record: 14-15 (1st year)
Penn State
Coquese Washington
Career Record: 148-104 (8th year)
Penn State Record: 148-104 (8th year)
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT - HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL.
The Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament returns to Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. for the first time since 2013. The tournament will be held March 4-8.
The Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament all-session tickets are $90 and single-session tickets are $15. The women's tournament will feature general admission seating, allowing fans to witness the action from the best available seats in Sears Centre Arena. Tickets are available through the Sears Centre Arena ticket offices at 1-888-SEARS-TIX (732-7784) or www.searscentre.com.
PENN STATE AT A GLANCE
Penn State has height and length and plenty of it as PSU will disrupt shots as it averages 5.1 blocks per game as a team. Lindsay Spann led the Lady Lions in scoring during the regular season with 13.6 points per game and was also the team's leading 3-point shooter. Sierra Moore added 11.9 points per game on the year while pacing the team in assists. Down low, Candace Agee tallies 10.5 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 percent from the field. Agee is also the team's leading shot blocker with nearly two per game. PSU topped the Hoosiers in their only meeting this season in Happy Valley, 79-75, on Jan. 22.
INDIANA IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
Indiana holds a 14-19 all-time record in the Big Ten Tournament. IU won the conference tournament title in 2002. The Hoosiers were the fifth seed that year and knocked off fourth-seeded Iowa, top-seeded Purdue and second-seeded Penn State en route to the tournament championship. Indiana is looking for its first win in the tournament since 2009 when IU defeated Michigan that year in Indianapolis.
IU-PSU IN THE B1G TOURNAMENT
Indiana and Penn State are meeting for the fifth time ever in the Big Ten Tournament and for the first time since 2004. The Lady Lions hold a 3-1 edge over the Hoosiers with IU's win over PSU coming in the 2002 tournament championship game. Penn State topped the Hoosiers in the conference tourney in 1995, 2003 and 2004.
YOUNG BIG TEN TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
Indiana freshmen Tyra Buss, Amanda Cahill, Maura Muensterman and Jess Walter will be making their Big Ten Tournament debuts this week. Sophomores Taylor Agler, Jenn Anderson, Larryn Brooks, Alexis Gassion, Lyndsay Leikem and Karlee McBride have played in just one conference tournament game. Senior walk-on Andrea Mize has appeared in two tournament games in each of the last two years.
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 223 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). This year's Indiana team has tied the regular season record total 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.
HIT THE GASSION PEDAL
Sophomore Alexis Gassion started in each of the last 14 games of the regular season and averaged 10.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game during that span. Gassion scored in double figures in seven of her starts during the regular year and four times had 10 of more rebounds in her starts.
Coming into the Big Ten Tournament, Gassion is averaging 8.3 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).
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). Cahill ended the regular season averaging 10.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field. She scored in double figures in 17 games during the regular season schedule and 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.
BROOKS IN ELITE HOOSIER COMPANY
Indiana sophomore Larryn Brooks has scored 899 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 899 or more in that career span.
Brooks ended the regular season scoring in double figures in 20 contests and leading the team with 11.9 points per game to go along with a team-best 3.9 assists while adding 1.1 steals per contest. Over the last four games of the regular season, Brooks shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from beyond the arc.
Brooks had one of the most productive seasons by any freshman in the history of the program in 2013-14. 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).
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.
Heading into the conference tournament, McBride is leading the IU bench in scoring with 8.5 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 during teh regular season, 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 ended the regular season schedule shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range this season to rank fifth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage. In the last five games heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Walter averaged 11.2 points per game while shooting 55.6 percent from 3-point range. 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 scored in double figures in nine regular season contests this year.
YOUNG GUNS GETTING IT DONE
During the 2014-15 regular season, all but five points of Indiana's point production came from either freshmen or sophomores. The first and second-year players accounted for 99.8 percent of IU's point production heading into the tournament. The same can be said about nearly every statistical category as Hoosier freshmen and sophomores 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.
THE BUSS IS ROLLING
Freshman Tyra Buss scored in double-figures in 20 regular season games this season. Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Buss 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.
Heading into tournament play, Buss is tied for fifth among freshmen nationally in steals. The Mt. Carmel, Ill., native had three or more steals in 10 games during the regular season and totaled 61 steals heading into this week, which is the second most ever by an IU freshman. She is the first IU player with at least 61 steals in a season since 2010-11.
HITTING THE FREE ONES
Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Indiana is shooting 74.0 percent from the free throw line as a team. If the season ended with that total, it would rank fourth for the best free throw percentage in a single year in program history. This year's percentage is an improvement of 7.4 percent from a year ago when IU shot 66.6 percent.
In Big Ten games only this year, Indiana led the conference in free throw shooting, connecting on 76.3 percent of its attempts in those games.
Media Contact: Ryan Sheets, rmsheets@indiana.edu
