IUWBB GAME PREVIEW: IU Hosts UMass Lowell / post 79-45 win

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IUWBB GAME PREVIEW: IU Hosts UMass Lowell in Wednesday Afternoon

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Hoosiers return home after its first road games of the season to host UMass Lowell on Wednesday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Tipoff between the Hoosiers and River Hawks is set for 2 p.m. ET and will be live on BTN Plus and on the air on WHCC 105.1 FM with Greg Murray.

RV/RV Indiana (3-1) vs. UMass Lowell (0-4)
Wednesday, November 23, 2016 • 2 p.m. ET
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall • Bloomington, Ind.
Live Web Broadcast: BTN Plus (Patrick White, Nichole Stewart)
Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM (Greg Murray)
Live Stats: Sidearm
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter
Promotion: The first 300 fans will receive an IUWBB oven mitt (available at the South Lobby marketing table)

ABOUT THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 238-159 (14th year)
Indiana Record: 39-29 (3rd year)

UMass Lowell
Jenerrie Harris
Career Record: 18-42 (Third Season)
UMass Lowell Record: Same

ABOUT THE RIVER HAWKS
Still searching for its first win of the season, UMass Lowell comes to Bloomington after a 72-59 loss to Longwood at home on Sunday. The River Hawks have already met one Big Ten team this year when they visited Maryland in a 100-44 loss. They are led by senior guard Nicole Hayner (10.0 ppg.), freshman guard Megan Hendrick (8.0 ppg.) and junior forward Kayla Gibbs (7.3 ppg., 5.3 rpg.). Through four games, the River Hawks are averaging 50.0 points and shooting 38 percent from the field.

SPLIT A PAIR
IU returns to the friendly confines of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall after splitting a pair of road games last weekend. They were victorious in a 79-76 nail bitter at Chattanooga on Thursday and dropped its first contest of the season to Western Kentucky on Saturday. Junior guard Tyra Buss led IU in both games, scoring back-to-back 20-plus point performances with 23 points and 24 points, respectively.

700 WINS
With a win on Wednesday, Indiana can record program win number 700. In its 46 year history, the Hoosiers hold a 699-600 record all-time.

GASSION NEXT TO 1,000
Senior guard Alexis Gassion can become the 25th member of the 1,000 point club as she sits just 13 points (982) away from the career mark heading into Wednesday's game. Gassion has propelled her career numbers as she has scored in double figures in the last two games, tying a career-high 22 in the win over Vanderbilt and 15 on Thursday at Chattanooga. Gassion can join junior guard Tyra Buss this season to reach the career mark in the record book and the first duo to score 1,000 points in the same season since Jamie Braun and Whitey Thomas did it in 2008-09.

JENN FROM THE BENCH
Senior forward Jenn Anderson has put in some productive minutes off the bench for the Hoosiers this season. The Sheridan, Ind. native scored a season-high 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting in IU's win over Chattanooga and tied a career-high 11 rebounds against Western Kentucky. For the season, Anderson is averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing and saw a season-high 27 minutes of play against the Hilltoppers.

50 PERCENT AND BETTER
In its first three games of the 2016-17 season, Indiana shot 50 percent or better from the field as a team which resulted in three victories. It's the longest streak under third year head coach Teri Moren and the longest since the Hoosiers put together back-to-back 50 percent plus performances against DePaul and IPFW last season.

41 AND COUNTING
Junior guard Tyra Buss continues to reach new scoring heights as she extended her double-figure scoring streak to 41 games during the pair of road games this weekend. She extended her streak - which dates back to her freshman season - with back-to-back 20-plus point scoring games, which she has done five times in her career.

INSIDE JOB
Indiana has showed its a threat in the post, scoring at least 46 points or more in the paint in all four games this season. In each of the Hoosiers three wins, paint points have accounted for 75 percent or more of its scoring (240 of its 318 points) including a season-high 50 percent in the season opener win over Presbyterian.

16 IN A ROW
With back-to-back wins inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to open up the season, IU continues the program's longest home win streak. It marked the 16th straight win on its home court, as the Hoosiers are coming off a 14-0 record at home in 2015-16.

LET ME ASSIST YOU
Junior forward Amanda Cahill has been a consistent presence for the Hoosiers through four games this season but she matched a career-high when she dished out six assists on Saturday at Western Kentucky. On the season, Indiana has passed out 67 assists and is tied for sixth in the Big Ten in that category (16.8 apg.) and second in assist to turnover ratio (1.6).

UP NEXT
Indiana hits the road for three-straight games as it kicks off the road swing at Auburn on Sunday. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. ET and will be live on the SEC Network.

Live stats and game notes within:

iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/11/22/womens-basketball-iuwbb-game-preview-indiana-hosts-umass-lowell-in-wednesday-afternoon-action.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

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IU women's BB looking to bounce back against UMass Lowell
by Jake Thomer

IU suffered its first loss of the season on the back end of a two-game road trip Saturday, and dropped out of the AP Top-25 poll because of it.

For Coach Teri Moren and her team, nothing will get the team on track quicker than a quality performance against UMass Lowell at home on the day before Thanksgiving.

“After coming back from that tough loss at Western Kentucky, we talk about bounce-back ability, and we’re going to have to have that,” Moren said. “We’ve been working on a few different things defensively, so I’m eager to see some of the things we’ve been working on and how that can translate into our game plan.”

The Hoosiers (3-1) allowed a season-high 85 points to WKU in their upset loss this past weekend. UMass Lowell (0-4) presents the perfect opportunity for IU to recover and get rolling again, as the River Hawks have yet to hit the 60-point mark this season.

IU can find success if it forces turnovers early, as UMass Lowell averages 30 turnovers per game. The Hoosiers have been able to force about 15 turnovers per game from opponents so far this year.

Moren said keying in on forced turnovers will be a focus for her squad, but she stopped short of promising 30 turnovers for her team on Wednesday, saying IU’s style doesn’t quite match that of the River Hawks' previous opponents.

One of those previous opponents for UMass Lowell was Big Ten counterpart and No. 6 Maryland, who came out on top with a 100-44 victory over the River Hawks. The Terrapins forced 34 turnovers in that game.

“A lot of those teams were pressing them, and we’re not a pressing team, but certainly we want to be aggressive in the half court,” Moren said. “The one thing we didn’t do a good enough job of with Western Kentucky was guard not just their dribble handoffs, but their high ball screening action. And we’re going to see that tomorrow, which I’m excited about, because you want to see that we’ve kind of learned our lesson.”

Senior guard Nicole Hayner leads the River Hawks with 10 points per game on 44 percent shooting from three. Sophomore forward and Indiana native Katherine Smith controls the paint for UMass Lowell, leading the team with six rebounds per game while also dishing out 2.8 assists per game, good for second most on the team.

A duo of versatile guards lead the Hoosiers in scoring, with junior guard Tyra Buss averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game and senior guard Alexis Gassion tallying 14.8 points per contest. Gassion is just 18 points away from 1,000 for her career.

Outside of forcing turnovers IU's post players will have to stay out of foul trouble Wednesday, something they've struggled to do of late. Junior Amanda Cahill, sophomore Kym Royster and senior Jenn Anderson have combined for 21 fouls in the past two games, with Royster and Cahill each fouling out once.

Moren said the emphasis the past few days has been to keep it simple and remain focused on what areas need improvement. While the team practiced hard Tuesday, it spent Sunday and Monday addressing the little things and off-court preparation.

“We have to regroup anytime you come off a difficult defeat,” Moren said. “We had a great film session and team meeting yesterday; we just spent some really good time together as a team. It did give us a chance to regroup and be together, and talk about the things that we know moving forward that we have to improve and get better at.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016...l-looking-to-bounce-back-against-umass-lowell

Go Hoosiers!

 

[BGunn]

Hey Snowling, can't say I'm a huge WBB fan but I wanted you to know how much I appreciate your coverage of the various sports, especially soccer. It's much appreciated!

 

[snowling]

IU jumps out early & does not look back; win 79-45

CTM goes deep with her bench in an easy 79-45 win; 10 players get double digit minutes with only Gassion posting at least 30 minutes of game time. Alexis G scored her 1000th point in her IU career (25 have reached this milestone). GBR!

Points: Gassion-18, Cahill-15, Buss-14 & Anderson-8
Rebounds: Anderson & Cahill-6 each and Buss & Anderson-5 each
Assists: Gassion-6, Buss-4, Cahill-3 and 3 players with 2 each

Indiana shot 47.8% from the field, but managed only that same percentage from the FT line. IU held UM/L to 40.9% from the field. TOs were 12-30 in IUs favor.

Live stats with boxscore:
sidearmstats.com/indiana/wbball

On to Auburn on Sunday.

Go Hoosiers!

 

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Gassion Scores 1,000th Career Point as Indiana Rolls to 79-45 Victory over UMass Lowell

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Senior guard Alexis Gassion became the 25th member of the 1,000th point club as she guided the Indiana Women's Basketball team to a 79-45 Thanksgiving eve win over UMass Lowell at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Gassion paced the Hoosiers with an 18-point performance on 8-for-14 shooting to go along with six assists and five rebounds as the Fairborn, Ohio native officially reached the career mark on a running floater with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter.

Indiana also reached a program milestone in the win, securing its 700th victory in program history and have now won 17-straight inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall – a streak that dates back to last season.

A total of three Hoosiers scored in double figures – with 11 players recording points - including junior forward Amanda Cahill with 15 points, six rebounds while junior guard Tyra Buss added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and tied a career-high eight steals.

Collectively, the Hoosiers shot 47.8 percent from the floor as it once again was dominated on the inside, scoring 48 points in the paint. Led by eight steals from Buss, IU collected a season-high 18 picks on the afternoon and the most in a single game since IU picked up 18 in back-to-back games to open up the 2014-15 season. Cahill and freshman Bre Wickware also contributed to the defensive effort as they each picked up three as six total players earned steals in the win.

IU also forced UMass Lowell to commit 34 turnovers which they converted into 38 points, 22 of which were in transition. The River Hawk's 34 turnovers were the most by an IU opponent since that record was kept in 2008-09. In addition, Indiana also posted a season-high 21 assists on 33 made baskets paced by Gassion's six and four from Buss.

Senior forward Jenn Anderson had herself a block party as she tied a career-high three swats and added eight points to go with a tied team-high six rebounds off the bench. She led IU's reserves as it scored 26 points to go along with a career-high six from freshman forward Darby Foresman.

Tied at 4-4 with 7:49 left in the first quarter, Indiana rattled off a 13-0 run and never really looked back. They would lead 27-8 after first quarter paced by Cahill who scored 10 of her 15 points in the first frame. It would be a 19-2 IU run before it was all said and done as Indiana outscored the River Hawks 17-10 in the second quarter to holds its largest halftime lead of the season, 44-18.

Indiana would post its best effort in the third quarter as it shot 53.3 percent from the floor coming out of the break. They outscored UMass Lowell, 19-12, in the quarter and took a 63-30 lead after three complete. The fourth quarter was highlighted by Gassion's 1,000th point as she scored six of her 18 points in the final period as Indiana rolled to victory.

NOTES
• The Hoosiers have won 17 straight games in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall dating back to last season.
• With junior Tyra Buss also over 1,000 points, it marks the first time since the 2008-09 season that the Hoosiers have had two active players with at least 1,000 career points.
• Buss scored 14 points, her 42nd consecutive game in double figures. It is her 60th double-figure scoring game of her career (69 games played). She also has 1,069 career points, which ranks 21st on the Hoosiers all-time career scoring list. She is 31 points from reaching the top 20.
• The Hoosiers pushed the pace, leading to a 22-0 advantage in fast break points.
• Indiana held a 48-22 edge in points in the paint. In their three home games, they hold a 146-64 advantage with points in the paint.
• Indiana opened the game with a 27-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. The 27 points tied a season-high for points in a quarter and is the most since they had 27 in the second quarter against Vanderbilt.
• Junior forward Amanda Cahill scored in double figured for the 54th game of her career. Cahill has scored in double figures in 30 of her last 31 games.

UP NEXT
Indiana kicks off a three-game road swing on Sunday when it visits Auburn. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET inside Auburn Arena and will be carried live on the SEC Network.

Boxscore and videos within:
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/11/...rolls-to-79-45-victory-over-umass-lowell.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

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IU women's basketball notches blowout win
by Josh Eastern

The only thing in doubt Wednesday afternoon was whether or not IU senior Alexis Gassion would reach the 1,000-point mark for her career.

She needed 18 points to accomplish the feat, and after chipping away at the mark all afternoon, was the only starter on the floor in the game's final minutes. With 1:47 to play, Gassion made a left-handed lay-in and became the 25th player in IU history to reach the milestone.

IU (4-1) headed into Thanksgiving with a 79-45 bounce back win over the UMass Lowell River Hawks behind a game-high 18 points from Gassion.

“I try not to think about it,” Gassion, who added five rebounds and six assists, said. “I come into the game with the same mentality and that’s being an unselfish player. There was a thought on my mind that I could be, but I had to flip that switch to become a more offensive and defensive player.”

Gassion and junior guard Tyra Buss are the first duo to score 1,000 points in the same season since Jamie Braun and Whitey Thomas in 2008-09.

IU controlled the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer, and turned 34 River Hawk turnovers into 38 points. Buss finished with 14 points and tallied a career-high eight steals in her 25 minutes on the floor.

She attributed part of IU's bounce-back win to the commitment to ball screens in practice.

“I think after that Western Kentucky loss, we came into practice and we were really upset about how we played and we didn’t really do that well defensively and we didn’t follow the game plan as well as we should have,” Buss said. “Yesterday and the day before in practice, all we on defense was guard ball screens. I thought we came out with a lot of energy.”

IU junior Amanda Cahill got things going early on for the Hoosiers. She scored five of the Hoosiers’ first seven points and ended with 15 points and six rebounds. IU senior Jenn Anderson continued to her early season improvement and scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench.

The Hoosiers controlled the offensive glass and were unselfish on offense. IU turned 14 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points and assisted on 21 of 33 made shots.

IU Coach Teri Moren was disappointed by her squad's 47.8 percent clip from the charity stripe, however.

“There was nothing better than being able to come back into Assembly Hall and regroup,” Moren said. “I thought we put together a solid, maybe not 40, but close to 40 (minutes) of some great defensive series and that was our goal.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/11/iu-womens-basketball-notches-blowout-win

Go Hoosiers!