Hoosiers Hold Down Rutgers, 64-48

Wednesday, January 27

Bloomington, Ind.

7 pm

Indiana University

13-8, 5-4

RUTGERS

12-9, 3-6

Rutgers

Indiana

1/27/2016 9:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - If there was worry of a hangover for Indiana after upsetting No. 20 Northwestern on the road, it only lasted five minutes.

That's how long the Hoosiers played without the lead Wednesday, overpowering Rutgers 64-48 for their best Big Ten start in six years.

"That's something that coaches and everyone surrounding us is always telling us is 'Don't get too high on the wins and don't get too low on the losses,'" sophomore forward Amanda Cahill said. "That's a philosophy we try to stick to."

The Scarlet Knights (12-9, 3-6) couldn't get anything going offensively in the first half, going three stretches of two-plus minutes without a field goal, including an 8:11 drought during which the Hoosiers (13-8, 5-4) took the lead for good.

Rutgers' eight first-quarter points were the lowest Indiana has held an opponent to all season in an opening period. But the Scarlet Knights would battle back, putting more pressure on the ball as they went on an 8-1 run to start the second half.

Junior guard Karlee McBride said she and her teammates stayed focused on getting stops and being tough defensively in what was primarily a defensive-minded win for the Hoosiers, who shot just 35 percent in the game.

"Anybody that was here from the beginning when we arrived knows that I'm pretty defensive-minded," head coach Teri Moren said. "It's something that our kids have bought into."

Indiana also had a stellar night from beyond the arc, hitting a season-best 10 treys, including four apiece from sophomore guard Tyra Buss and McBride.

Because of Rutgers' obvious size advantage, hitting the long ball was a major part of the Moren's game plan heading into the night. The Hoosiers were able to follow that script, while limiting the Scarlet Knights to just five offensive boards and outrebounding them overall 40-29.

"Going into the game, we really talked about how they were bigger than us and could probably outjump us, so we were going to have to play with fundamentals all game —and I think that's what we did," Cahill said. "Last year, when we played them three times, that's something that really hurt us and we struggled with, so I think just limiting those (offensive rebounds) helped us."

On a night when she was feeling under the weather, Buss led all scorers with 24 points and at one point was outscoring the Scarlet Knights on her own.

McBride added 12 points from long range, including a series where she stole the ball from Rutgers' Briyona Canty on a breakaway beneath basket and capped it off on the other end with a trey.

Cahill —who was also under the weather — chipped in with 12 points that all fell in the second half.

"I was feeling it a little bit there," Buss said of her performance, in which she hit four threes for just the third time in her collegiate career. "My teammates got me open looks, and I was just knocking it down for them."

This is Indiana's first three-game win streak in Big Ten play since 2009. The Hoosiers are a perfect 9-0 in Assembly Hall for the first team since the 1994-95 season, and are over .500 halfway through the Big Ten season for the first time since 2010.

"We're just going to keep getting better," Buss said. "It's not the end goal right now. We just have to keep winning games."