Indiana Powers Past Saint Louis In WNIT Second Round; Sets Single Season Record For Wins

Sunday, March 19

Bloomington, IN

2 P.M.

Indiana University

22-10

Saint Louis

25-9

Saint Louis

Indiana

Indiana Powers Past Saint Louis In WNIT Second Round; Sets Single Season Record For Wins

3/19/2017 5:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Using a 25-4 advantage in the second quarter, Indiana Women's Basketball rolled to a 71-53 victory over Saint Louis in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday afternoon inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The win also sets a new single season program records in win for the Hoosiers, who improved to 22-10 overall.

Three players scored in double figures including a game-high 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting and seven boards from junior forward Amanda Cahill. Junior guard Tyra Buss contributed 15 points, five assists and four boards while senior guard Alexis Gassion added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

IU shot 42.6 percent on the day and 50 percent (7-for-14) from 3-point range with three of those triples from Cahill. They also got 13 points out of their bench – the most since a Feb. 16 win over Michigan - led by four points from sophomore Kym Royster. Freshman forward Bre Wickware also contributed with a season-high six rebounds as IU outrebounded the Billikens, 40-34. Cahill and senior center Jenn Anderson led with seven boards each while Gassion also added five.

Ten different players scored for the Hoosiers in the win, as they advance to the third round and will host the winner of Abilene Christian versus SMU on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Wildcats and the Mustangs will play its second-round matchup on Monday night at 7 p.m.

Trailing by as many as five in the first quarter, Indiana faced a three-point deficit at the end of the opening frame, 18-15. But the Hoosiers made their living in the second quarter, shooting 66.7 percent with help from a 23-2 run while holding the Billikens to just four points in the second ten minutes of play.

Cahill got the quarter started for IU, pushing the ball up in transition to Buss who completed the layup. IU took its first lead with back-to-back threes from Gassion and McBride. The Hoosiers would continue to roll in the second, going on a 21-0 run before the Billikens found the back of the rim with just over a minute left before half. IU would take the 40-22 advantage into the locker room at halftime before Cahill opened up the second half with a three.

SLU would get within 13 points with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter, but never any closer than that as IU led 59-41 after three quarters played. Reserves saw a bulk of the minutes in the fourth quarter as Indiana took its largest lead of the day in the latter half, going up 23 with just over six minutes to play.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Teri Moren
"It was a really good day for us. Again, before I get started, I just wanted to mention the crowd again, how terrific they were, and what a shot in the arm they give us. Especially in that second quarter. I thought we were slow out of the gate. Which is different from the other night when we played Ball State, but I thought the second quarter was really good to us. I thought we got the momentum and had it going into halftime. I am really proud of our defensive effort. I thought that we were really locked in on tendencies of each player, and only hold Jackie Kemph to four points in the second half was big for us. I am really proud and happy for our guys. They showed up today in a big way I thought on the defensive end and rebounding. I am just happy we have the opportunity to advance and move on."

NOTABLE

With the win the Hoosiers set a program record for most wins in a season with 22.
The Hoosiers improve to 11-7 all-time in the WNIT, including a record of 8-1 at home in the WNIT.
Indiana has posted a record of 14-2 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall this season.
Trailing Saint Louis 18-13 in the first quarter the Hoosiers used a 27-4 run (including a 21-0 run in the second quarter) to take a 40-22 lead at halftime.
The Hoosiers made six of their first seven shots in the second quarter and shot 8-of-12 overall in the second period. Indiana outscored Saint Louis 25-4 in the second quarter.
Indiana held Saint Louis to 2-of-13 from the field in the second quarter and during their run the Hoosiers held the Billikens without any points for 8:01 of game time.
The four points scored by Saint Louis in the second quarter are the 14^th time this season Indiana has held an opponent in single digits for points in a quarter.
After Saint Louis shot 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) in the first quarter, the Hoosiers held the Billikens to 16-of-46 (34.8 percent) for the remainder of the game. The Hoosiers shot 20-of-40 from the field (50 percent) after the first quarter.
For the 10^th time this season the Hoosiers hold an opponent under 60 points. The Hoosiers are 10-0 this season when holding an opponent under 60 points.
The Hoosiers have now scored 2,426 points this season, which ranks second best in program history. The 2,426 points is the most since the Hoosiers scored 2,492 in the 1980-81 season.
Indiana tallied 13 steals for the game, which marked the ninth game this season they have posted double-digit steals.
The Hoosiers forced Saint Louis into 18 turnovers and converted 10 points off turnovers.
Indiana had 10 different players score in the game, including three in double figures.
Amanda Cahill led the Hoosiers with 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Cahill became the sixth player in school history to total at least 1,200 career points and 800 career rebounds. Cahill now has 1,301 points and 806 rebounds.
With her seven rebounds, Cahill moved into third on the Hoosiers all-time list for single season rebounds and now has 288 for the season.
Tyra Buss scored 15 points and added five steals and four assists. Buss now has 1,572 points, which ranks ninth on the Hoosiers all-time scoring list. Buss is 16 points from moving into eighth on the Hoosiers all-time career scoring list.
Buss has scored 590 points this season and is 10 points away from becoming the first player in program history to score 600 in back-to-back seasons (she scored 620 last season).
With her five steals Buss moved into fifth on the Hoosiers all-time list for career steals and now has 212. Buss now has 81 steals on the season, which moves her into fourth on the Hoosiers all-time list for single season steals.
With her four assists, Buss moved into fourth on the Hoosiers all-time list for single season assists and now has 151 for the season.
Bre Wickware came off the bench to score three points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds in 10 minutes of action.

UP NEXT
Indiana will face the winner of Abilene Christian and SMU on Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at 7 p.m. The winner of Thursday's game advances to the WNIT quarterfinals. Tickets for Thursday's game will go on sale at the IU Ticket Office on Monday morning at 9 a.m.

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