No. 23 Indiana Hangs On For Road Win at Chattanooga

Thursday, November 17

Chattanooga, TN

6:30 PM

Indiana University

3-0

Chattanooga

1-2

#23 Indiana

Chattanooga

No. 23 Indiana Hangs On For Road Win at Chattanooga

11/17/2016 9:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Backed by four players in double figures, No. 23 Indiana Women's Basketball survived a road test at Chattanooga, coming away with a 79-76 win on Thursday night inside McKenzie Arena.

Junior guard Tyra Buss led the Hoosier with 23 points as she went 8-for-16 from the floor and 4-for-7 from 3-point range to go along with four rebounds and two assists. Buss also put herself into double digits for the 40^th straight game in her IU career. She was joined by 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists from senior guard Alexis Gassion and 12 points each from junior forward Amanda Cahill and senior forward Jenn Anderson.

IU shot 51.7 percent from the floor, as it has opened the season with three-consecutive 50 percent plus shooting performances. Nine players scored points on the night as Indiana also dished out a season-high 18 assists on 31 made shots led by Gassion and four more coming from senior guard Amber Deane. In addition, Indiana went 47.1 percent from long range (8-for-17) led by Buss's four triples.

Gassion led on the glass with eight rebounds while Cahill added seven but IU was narrowly outrebounded, 33-31. The Hoosiers dominated once again inside, posting 46 of its 79 points in the lane. With the win, IU handed Chattanooga back-to-back home losses for the first time since the 2004-05 season as the Mocs also lost to No. 19 Florida at home on Monday.

It was a back-and-forth affair, as the Hoosiers and Mocs exchanged five ties and 11 lead changes throughout 40 minutes of play. Down by as many as six in the first quarter, Buss used a steal and transition layup to cut the lead down, 13-9, with 4:46 to play.

Coming in off the bench, Anderson's post up down low helped the Hoosiers get right back in it as it was all knotted up at 19-19 at the end of the first. IU took its first lead of the day right out of the gate during the second quarter, as redshirt sophomore guard Tia Elbert hit Anderson in transition for the layup. Anderson would prove to be big in the quarter as she scored six of her eight points in the first half in the second and helped IU to 14 points in the paint in the frame.

A Gassion 3-pointer helped Indiana extend its lead to six with 5:46 to play before halftime but UTC used an 8-4 run to bring themselves within two with six seconds remaining. A last second heave by Buss at near half court drew contact and a foul as she went to the line with .4 to play as she sank all three bonus shots to give IU the 37-32 lead heading into the locker room.

Indiana shot a quarter-high 66.7 percent in the third quarter, as Buss's floater in the lane and 3-pointer helped her team go up 43-39 with 7:23 to play. But UTC would go on a 7-3 run late in the quarter as it regained a 51-50 lead with 2:28 remaining. Buss helped Indiana close the frame with a bucket and a triple for a one-point lead, 57-56 headed into the final quarter.

Buss and Deane combined for early back-to-back 3-pointers as it led by as many as seven in the final period. A 10-3 run by the Mocs brought them within one after Chattanooga's Keiana Gilbert split a pair at the line with 4:35 to play.

Indiana pushed its lead back up to five after a Gassion drive and a pair of free throws made it 75-70 with just over three minutes to go. Needing a defensive stop, Cahill came up huge with a block but a second chance bucket put UTC within one at 1:22 as Indiana called timeout. Cahill would step to the line with just 60 seconds left on the clock after she drove to the rim and drained a pair at the charity stripe.

Gilbert – who led her team with 19 points – was able to find her way inside and cut IU's lead to one, 77-76. But it was Gassion's baseline jumper with 22 seconds to play that would prove to be a game winner as McKenzie Arena held its collective breath when the Mocs would fire off a last chance half court attempt that hit the rim but fell the other way for the Indiana win.

IU's first road trip of the season continues when it travels to Western Kentucky on Saturday. Game time is set for 3 p.m. ET inside E.A. Diddle Arena.