Defensively, the Hoosiers’ match-up zone stifled the Lady Lions, allowing them to complete just 35% of their shots. One of the Big Ten’s top scorers, Tyra Grant, was limited to six of 26 shooting from the floor. Offensively, the Hoosiers featured a balanced attack, with three players finishing in double figures and five others scoring.

Coach Jack said after the game — “On this night, when we stood together for Jamie Braun, we came together and we became something significant.”

For Jamie Braun, the only senior on the team, it was a fitting end to a decorated career. She seemingly made all the right plays at all the right times, whether it was hitting the open shot (23 points), grabbing the rebound (11 boards), or making the extra pass (4 assists).

Junior Hope Elam did her part as well, finishing with 16 points on six of 10 shooting. After the game, she discussed “the benefit of the extra pass.” Tonight, the extra pass was a staple of the Hoosier offense, and Hope Elam was the main beneficiary.

In the second half, Jori Davis became the 22nd Hoosier to reach 1,000 career points, and she finished with 12 points on the night. Andrea McGuirt and Sasha Chaplin added eight points a piece.

The Hoosiers led by as much as 20, but Penn State battled back to within seven with a little more than two minutes left. But the Hoosiers were too desperate for a win to let it slip away. It was their first win in six games, and it was much-needed with the Big Ten Tournament looming.

If the Hoosiers hope to make any run in the tournament, they are going to have to play hard-nosed, team basketball like they did on Sunday night. They are going to have to pull off some significant upsets like the Hoosier women did in 2002 when they knocked off the fourth, second, and first seeded teams en route to a Big Ten championship.

Never the less, Coach Jack sees her team as “part of the fight” in the Big Ten. The fight starts Thursday in Indianapolis.

The hot-shooting Alexander had it going all night, particularly in the first half, achieving 12 points and 10 rebounds with five minutes still left. She finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds in 40 minutes.

The second half was owned by Printy, who scored 20 of her career-high 28 in the half. She also finished with five rebounds and four threes.

“We moved the ball as a team a lot better in the second half and some of my shots just started falling,” Printy said.

Jamie Braun and Hope Elam were the only players to really get into any sort of a rhythm for the Hoosiers, finishing with 20 points and 13 points respectively.

The ultimate difference in the game, according to coach Felisha Legette-Jack, was the rebounding discrepancy. The Hawkeyes won the rebounding battle 53-29 including 21-8 on the offensive boards.

“No one out-rebounds IU that way,” Legette-Jack said. “We’ve regressed in that category the last five or six games. We have work to do.”

The defensive letdowns by the Hoosiers throughout the game burdened any chances for them to pull away.

“We had let-downs mentally that allowed them back in to the game,” Legette-Jack said. “We looked like a deer that got hit by a train.”

Jamie Braun cited the Hoosiers’ inability to go on any type of a run as a key factor in the loss.

“We didn’t get the back-to-back shots that needed to be made,” Braun said.

The Hawkeyes were without their starting PG, Kamille Wahlin (14 ppg), but like Legette-Jack said, the rebounding was the difference according to Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder.

“The rebounding is truly what gave us this win,” Bluder said. “And an outstanding performance by Jaime too.”

It wasn’t just rebounds, but more specifically offensive rebounds, that got the job done for the Hawkeyes late in the game.

Kelly Krei came up with a big bucket and a couple of clutch offensive rebounds for the Hawkeyes late in the game that helped seal the deal.

Krei scored with four minutes left to put the Hawkeyes up 62-61, a lead that would not be relinquished. Another basket by the Hawkeyes put them up by four with less than three minutes left.

With 29 seconds left and the Hoosiers down three, Jori Davis pulled down a big offensive rebound for the Hoosiers and was fouled. The bonus sent Davis to the line where she would hit the first and miss the second.

The second miss was deflected a couple times and eventually grabbed by Indiana’s Whitney Lindsay, who called a timeout with nine seconds left.

Legette-Jack drew up a play for Braun to get inside, which she was able to do. She missed the shot, however, and the rebound was gobbled up by Krei, who then sunk a couple free throws to seal it.

The Hawkeyes won second-chance points 19-6 and 9-1 in the second half, many of which came in the final minutes.

Notes: Jori Davis finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists; the 12 points moved her to within 61 of 1,000 for her career… Indiana’s next game is at Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 14… Ashlee Mells made her return from suspension for the Hoosiers; she played one minute.

Coach Jack cited a lack of “personal pride in the box out” as the reason for the 53-29 rebounding margin in favor of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Whatever the reason, it was a glaring issue for the Hoosiers and one that is directly responsible for their 71-67 loss.

Kachine Alexander — all 5’9’’ of her —  presented the most problems for the Hoosiers as she repeatedly fought her way into position, finishing with 16 rebounds. Center Morgan Johnson had five offensive rebounds, extending the number of Hawkeye possessions and allowing for guard Jaime Printy to have a breakout performance with 28 points.

Indiana forwards Danilsa Andujar and Hope Elam struggled to get a body on anyone down low, combining for a mere six rebounds total (one offensive, five defensive).

As for Iowa, Coach Lisa Bluder discussed how her team has “turned it around quite a bit” since the beginning of the year as far as rebounding goes, beating Michigan State (the top rebounding team in the conference) on the glass in a win on Monday and Ohio State in a close loss last Friday.

Indiana had a similar trend in their rebounding numbers, as they were making considerable improvements on the boards in their last two outings, which were wins over Ohio State and Illinois.

Rebounding is an issue that Coach Jack is sure to stress for the rest of the season as the Hoosiers near post-season play, but ultimately it is in the players’ hands to demonstrate the “pride in the box out” and to end the season strong.

Andrea McGuirt, a junior guard for the Indiana Hoosiers, has led her team to help those in need and realize that lending a hand is easy. McGuirt first realized she could make a difference when she saw news networks reporting on how many people were being affected by the earthquake in Haiti.

“After Hurricane Katrina and the response by the U.S., I felt that I needed to make a difference and do something more, in an efficient manner,” McGuirt said.

This prompted her to start a collection and encouraged her teammates and coaching staff to support the actions of so many lending aid to the people of Haiti.

“It could have been me, my family, you, or anyone in a situation such as Haiti,” McGuirt said. “We need to realize that our world is more connected than we think. We all need each other.”

Helping the less fortunate has always been a part of Andrea’s life, and she hopes that the world’s inhabitants humble themselves into believing that you may need someone one day.

She believes that any amount of donation is a success and in a time of need, people in trouble would be happy to receive anything that can positively increase their well-being. The women’s basketball team followed her lead and are donating to help the relief efforts through the American Red Cross.

McGuirt is also planning to start a shoe collection among Indiana students and athletes to further increase aid and supplies to those in Haiti.

As cliched as it sounds, it really is that simple– when the Hoosiers get rebounds, they compete; when they don’t, they flounder. Their record is 7-1 this year when they out-rebound their opponent.

It was no easy task on Sunday against the Ohio State Buckeyes (no. 4 in the AP Poll), who have big 6′4” Jantel Lavender, averaging 21.1 ppg and 10.3 rebounds, patrolling the paint. Good thing Danilsa “City” Andujar came ready to play. She went board for board with Lavender for a whole 40 minutes, pulling down 12 to Lavender’s 15.

As a team, Indiana snatched 44 rebounds to Ohio State’s 46, but beat the Bucks on the offensive glass 22-20. The lady Hoosiers are 7-0 this year when they win the offensive rebounding battle.

Not to exhaust the point regarding the pertinence of rebounding, but the score at the half was 42-35 in favor of Ohio State. What was the rebounding ratio? In direct correlation with the score, it was 27-16 Buckeyes. Luckily, it was a tale of two halves.

Jantel Lavender wasn’t the only dynamic threat that the young Hoosiers faced on Sunday. Speedy Sophomore guard Samantha Prahalis is so quick and deceptive with the ball, I had trouble keeping my eyes on her as she sped up and down Branch McCracken Court. Her 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game make her one of the most promising guards in the women’s game.

Hope Elam and “City” Andujar had their hands full on the low block, while Jori Davis, Whitney Lindsay, and Jamie Braun had their work cut out for them as well, trying to stop the dribble-drive penetration from Prahalis. There were a few minor slip ups, but for the most part the IU defense was effective, especially in the closing minutes. Coach Jack emphasized the importance of help defense through the “buddy system”, and the ladies operated this system beautifully on Sunday.

It was a fun, up and down affair, with four ties and four lead changes throughout. Consider it a testament to the Hoosiers’ focus that they were able to stay neck in neck with one of the premier teams in the country for so long. When they finally got their opportunity to pounce around the 3:45 mark in the second half, they took it, and never relinquished after that, winning 67-62.

With the victory, the Hoosiers handed the Buckeyes their third loss of the year (21-3). Indiana advanced to 12-10 (5-6 conference), and have their work cut out for them with 7 conference games looming.

Maybe the Hoosiers’ win on Sunday will give them confidence boost they need to make a late-season surge.

The Hoosiers finished 15-57 from the field, good for 26%, but head coach Felisha Legette-Jack couldn’t have been prouder of her team.

“They played for me, for each other, for Indiana,” coach Legette-Jack said. “A couple of things just didn’t go our way.”

The Badgers came out from the onset and controlled the paint behind Lin Zastrow and Tara Steinbauer. They combined for 28 points and 22 rebounds.

But with every run the Badgers put together, Jori Davis was there with an answer for the Hoosiers.

Davis was the only Hoosier to really get it going all night and she finished with a game high 21 points to go along with five rebounds.

“It was important for me to take the one-dribble pull up when they gave it to me,” Davis said.

The Hoosiers shot 32% in the first half and 22% in the second half. After a field goal by Davis in the first half at the 8:51 mark, the Hoosiers would go the next 16:21 with just one field goal.

“Their defense predicated the game,” coach Legette-Jack said. “We conceded and that shows fear. Our offense started well beyond the three point line. We need to make some changes.”

“We generated offense from our defense,” Badger head coach Lisa Stone said. “Jori was a one-woman wrecking crew, but we were able to contest shots and block out.”

Game Notes: The Hoosiers’ 15 FG’s made tied their previous mark this season  for fewest FG’s in a game… The Hoosiers’ 85.7 FT% was their best of the season… This was Wisconsin’s first win in Bloomington since 2003… Jori Davis is now 115 points shy of 1,000 for her career.

BLOOMINGTON

The Hoosiers played hard throughout the game but came up short down the stretch. IU was forced out of position late in the game which led to easy buckets for the talented Seminoles.

IU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack commented that, “We got too anxious in the end of the game.We fell asleep on defense at times, and that can’t happen against a team this good.”

Hoosier guard, junior Jori Davis finished the night with 23 points and four rebounds,and finished the game as IU’s leading contributor. ”We know we are a good team and that IU can contend with the top ten talents in the NCAA. We just need to keep our focus and stay confident from the start of the game to the finish,” said Davis after the game.

IU started the game strong, rebounded well and played concrete defense in the first half. Florida State led 39-36 at the break off of a buzzer-beater three pointer.

The Hoosiers played impressively in the first half and up until about four minuets left in the game. They played disciplined defense and were able to create turnovers. As the game wore on Florida State took control, forcing IU away from its game plan.

Florida State continues its undefeated season as they move to 7-0 on the year. Junior guard Courtney Ward had a huge impact offensively for the Seminoles as she led the team with 20 points and added four assists. The FSU defense was able to hold off any comeback attempt by the Hoosiers with their solid experience and defensive play in the closing moments of the game.

“We need to make the team more dimensional. We don’t have quit in us, we’ll keep pressing our way and find ways to finish games,” said coach Legette-Jack on moving forward after this loss.

This game has shown a great deal about who these young ladies are on the court. They can take away the fact that they can hang with the top talent in Women’s NCAA hoops, and gained a valuable lesson and confidence boost from this loss. They will have to bring that confidence with them into each game remaining on the schedule.

Indiana will have to correct their mistakes soon as they open up Big Ten play this weekend in East Lansing against the Michigan State Spartans.