Buss and Cahill Lead Hoosiers To Senior Day Win Over Nebraska

Saturday, February 17

Bloomington, IN

12 p.m.

Indiana University

15-12, 8-6B1G

Nebraska

19-8, 10-4B1G

Nebraska

Indiana

Buss and Cahill Lead Hoosiers To Senior Day Win Over Nebraska

2/17/2018 2:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Hoosiers ended their 2017-18 home schedule on a high note, topping Nebraska 83-75 on Senior Day for Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill in front of 5,258 fans at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana (15-12, 8-6 B1G) got what they needed from their senior duo who combined for 53 points with seven assists and six 3-pointers in the final home game of their careers. Buss and Cahill delivered memorable performances in in the Hoosiers' home finale. Cahill went 16-and-10 for her 39^th career double-double while making seven blocks, a new career high. Buss delivered a signature game with 37 points, one shy of a career-high, with five assists and five rebounds. They combined for four of Indiana's eight steals on the defensive end.

The seniors weren't the only Hoosiers playing at a high level in the home finale. Freshman guard Jaelynn Penn collected 21 points, tying a career high, with three 3-pointers and two and-one conversions. Freshman guard Bendu Yeaney served four assists, marking her 17^th game this season with multiple helpers.

The Hoosiers were in a battle from the outset. Cahill and Buss erased IU's early deficit with back-to-back 3-point plays. Penn followed the Huskers' run with an and-one at the rim, and Indiana's senior tandem made their free throws to pull within a possession. With time winding down in the first, Buss drained a jumper to pull Indiana even with Nebraska at 19-19. Buss had 11 points in the first quarter alone.

Penn opened her second quarter with a 3-pointer that sent Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall into a frenzy and sparked a 10-2 Hoosier scoring run. Buss added another seven points to her senior day tally in that stretch, bringing her first half count to 20 points in 20 minutes. Cahill drilled a 3-pointer in the final two minutes of the half to preserve Indiana's lead, 36-32.

Buss went 7-of-12 from the field in the first half with a perfect mark at the free throw line. Cahill dominated the defensive end with five first half blocks, matching her previous career high.

Penn kept the Hoosiers on top in the third quarter with six points on back-to-back possessions, converting an and-one layup before sinking her second 3-pointer of the game. She finished the quarter with 8 points.

Tied at 49-49, the Hoosiers found a play that shifted momentum. Freshman center Linsey Marchese grabbed a loose ball and fed a fast break to Buss, who drove two the baseline and kicked it out to a wide-open Cahill on the arc for another 3-point make. Buss followed the crafty assist with three successive 3-pointers for another 11-point quarter and 31 points after 30 minutes.

The intense back-and-forth between the Hoosiers and Huskers delivered in the closing minutes. With three minutes to play, Cahill padded Indiana's one-point lead with a layup through contact and threaded a 3-pointer from the corner on their next possession. The Huskers responded with a shot from deep the other way, but Penn matched it from the same corner as Cahill.

Indiana closed out the Huskers with a 16-6 scoring run in the last three minutes, including the 3-pointers from Cahill and Penn. The Hoosiers found seven of their nine total 3-pointers in the second half.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Teri Moren
"Well it's only fitting that Tyra and B can complete their four years of regular season play in Assembly Hall and get a great win over a really, really good Nebraska team. You always hope that on senior night, not only is it special for obviously our seniors, but you always hope that the emotions can be held off until after the game. I thought the beginning, as I said to my staff, we're probably going to be a little out of sync to start the game. Which we were, but I felt like we finally settled in. On the night, I thought are defense was really good. Tyra was special. I thought Jaelynn Penn was phenomenal offensively. We won this game really because we had another great performance defensively."

NOTABLE

With the 83-75 win over Nebraska the Hoosiers win their seventh straight Big Ten game, the most since the 1982-83 season when they won eight straight Big Ten games.
Tyra Buss scored 37 points, with 11 coming in the first quarter and she had 20 in the first half. Buss pushed her career scoring record to 2,154 points. Buss also holds career records for free-throws made (582) and steals (271). Buss had five assists and now needs eight assists to set the Indiana career assists record.
For Buss, it is her fourth career game scoring at least 30 points and tied for her second most points in a game (38 vs. North Carolina State, 12/1/16 and 35 vs. Florida 12/20/16).
Amanda Cahill notched her 39^thcareer double-double and 10^th this season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She added seven blocks.
Cahill scored 16 points in the game to push her career total to 1,722 points. Cahill ranks seventh all-time in career scoring (1,722), third in all-time rebounds (1,042), third in all-time double doubles (39) and seventh in all-time blocks (121).
Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill are the only players in program history on the top-10 career scoring list to play at the same time.
Jaelynn Penn scored a career-high 21 points on 6-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The Hoosiers held Nebraska scoreless from 8:06 until 3:43 (4:23) in the second quarter and led 36-32 at halftime.
After Nebraska hit two free-throws at the 2:55 mark of the third quarter to cut the Indiana lead to 52-51, Tyra Buss scored nine straight points for Indiana as part of a 9-4 run to give the Hoosiers a 61-55 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Hoosiers closed the game scoring 16 of the final 24 points.
Indiana connected on 22-for-25 from the free-throw line (88 percent).

UP NEXT
The Hoosiers hit the road for their last two conference games of the regular season, starting with a trip to Minnesota on Tuesday, February 20. The game is set for an 8 p.m. ET tipoff on BTN Plus.

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