IUWBB GAME PREVIEW: IU Meets Oakland on Saturday Afternoon / win 84-59

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Non-conference play inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall wraps up on Saturday afternoon when Indiana Women's Basketball hosts Oakland. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET and will be live on BTN Plus and WHCC105.com with Greg Murray.

Indiana (7-3) vs. Oakland (5-4)
Saturday, December 17, 2016 • 5 p.m. ET
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall • Bloomington, Ind.
TV Broadcast:BTN Plus (Amanda Marino, Nicholas Stewart)
Radio:WHCC105.com (Greg Murray)
Live Stats:Sidearm
Social Media:Facebook | Twitter
Promotion: IUWBB Ugly Holiday shirts for the first 300 fans (available at the South Lobby marketing table)

ABOUT THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 242-161 (14th year)
Indiana Record: 43-31 (3rd year)

Oakland
Jeff Tungate
Career Record: 45-54 (5th Season)
Oakland Record: Same

ABOUT THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland comes to Bloomington after dropping a home contest to Ball State (66-59) on Saturday, Dec. 17. The Hoosiers are one of three teams from the Big Ten that the Golden Grizzlies have visited this season as they also have losses at Michigan (101-63) and Michigan State (81-74). They are led by five players who average double figures including sophomore guard Taylor Jones who comes off the bench for 16.1 points per game. Redshirt junior guards Taylor Gleason (13.3 ppg.) and Sha'Keya Graves (10.7 ppg.) round out the top three scorers while redshirt senior forward Hannah Little adds 10.4 points and a team-high 11.7 rebounds per game. Oakland averages 82.2 points per game this season on a 43.3 field goal percentage

Series History vs. Oakland
Indiana leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: 12/20/14 – W, 88-61 (Rochester, Mich.)

19 IN A ROW
Indiana continued the program's longest win streak on its home court on Sunday with the 87-58 victory over Valparaiso. The 19-straight wins are also the sixth longest active streak in the NCAA as IU has put together a 5-0 records inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall this season.

HORIZON LEAGUE SWING
The Hoosiers will continue to entertain Horizon League opponents on Sunday when it welcomes Valparaiso. IU is fresh off a win over another league foe Northern Kentucky and will host Oakland on Sunday. All-time, IU is 29-12 against current members of the Horizon League.

GOOD FROM THE FIELD
Posting a 58.9 field goal percentage in the last three games combined, Indiana currently ranks third in the nation with an overall shooting percentage of 50.6 percent. It ranks behind the national leader Maryland (51.9) and California (51.0). IU shot above 53 percent in all three wins last week including the fourth-best single game mark of 64.0 percent at North Texas on Dec. 6.

REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
IU scored 100 points for the first time since the 2014-15 season in the 100-49 win over Northern Kentucky. It was just the second time under third year head coach Teri Moren , whose team scored 115 points in her IU debut against Gardner Webb in 2014-15. Six players also scored in double figures led by 16 points from senior guard Karlee McBride . Junior forward Amanda Cahill (14), junior guard Tyra Buss (14), sophomore forward Kym Royster (13) and senior forward Jenn Anderson (12) all recorded double-digits, also the first time since 2014-15 that IU has had six players score in double figures.

CLEAN THE GLASS
The Hoosiers have dominated on the glass . Against the Mean Green on Dec. 6, Indiana posted a +31 margin (44-14) which is the largest since the record has been kept track of beginning in 2008-09. It bested a previous high of 28 against St. Louis in the 2008-09 season. IU was also able to easily outrebound Northern Kentucky on Thursday night, recording a 49-22 mark on the glass. In three games last week, IU outrebounded its opponents 132-65 overall.

GASSION'S CONTRIBUTIONS
Senior guard Alexis Gassion continues to provide a steady offensive threat for Indiana as she has scored in double-figures in eight games this season and is the team's second leading scorer averaging 13.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. The Fairborn, Ohio native is coming off her fifth career double-double (10 points, 15 rebounds) against Northern Kentucky. Her team-high 43 assists (4.3 per game) ranks eighth in the Big Ten while her assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5) ranks 37th in the nation and fifth in the Big Ten. In addition, she has played the most minutes of any Hoosier this season, averaging 31.4 minutes per game and has committed a combined eight fouls through ten games.

POINTS IN THE PAINT
Indiana continues to produce a majority of its points inside the paint this season as it scored a season-high 64 points against Northern Kentucky. It marked the sixth time this season IU has scored at least 44 points in the lane and reached 50 or more for the second time (50, vs. Presbyterian).

BUSS CAN CLIMB THE BOOKS
Buss can continue to put her mark on the IU record books as she sits in reaching distance of a few categories. She moved her way into No. 16 all-time on the list on Sunday as she finished with 12 points and now has 1,177 points. She is also three assists and seven steals away from reaching the top 10 on both respective career lists.

47 AND COUNTING
Buss continues to reach new scoring heights as she extended her double-figure scoring streak to 47 games, with 12 points in Sunday's win over Valparaiso. She extended her streak - which dates back to her freshman season - and marks the 65th overall game she's reached double figures - out of the 74 games played in her career. The current IU record stands at 49 consecutive double figure scoring games and is held by Karna Abram who did it between 1985-86 and 1986-87.

BUSS NAMED TO NAISMITH PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Junior guard Tyra Buss has been named to the Naismith Trophy Women's Preseason Watch List, announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Nov. 30. Buss is one of 50 players from around the country and one of nine players from the Big Ten on the list for women's college basketball's player of the year honor. Each year the club's board publishes the "Naismith Watch" list that is made up of the top 50 players to watch in men's and women's college basketball. The organization also releases a list of 30 mid-season Naismith candidates.

KYM'S BIG WEEK
Sophomore forward Kym Royster put together a nice week for herself coming off the bench for the Hoosiers. The Newark, Ohio native went 16-for-20 from the field (80 percent) to average 11.7 points and grabbed 3.3 rebounds per game. She posted back-to-back double figure games with 13 points each at North Texas and Northern Kentucky and went a perfect 6-for-6 against the Mean Green. She also combined for 10 rebounds in the three games last week.

CAHILL'S CONSISTENCY
Junior forward Amanda Cahill has been a constant presence for the Hoosiers not only this season but in her career. Through nine games this season, the Clyde, Ohio native has grabbed at least six rebounds in every game and scored in double figures in eight of those contests. She recorded her 19th career double-double in Tuesday's win at North Texas (15 points, 10 rebounds) and is shooting 50 percent from the field on the season. In addition, Cahill is the team's leading rebounder (8.2) and the third-leading scorer (12.9). In addition, Cahill recorded her 600th rebound in Sunday's win over Valpo.

UP NEXT
Indiana hits the road for its final two non-conference games of the season when it travels to the Florida Sunshine Classic in Winter Park, Fla. The Hoosiers will face Florida (Dec. 20) and Stony Brook (Dec. 21) on the campus of Rollins College.

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Pregame videos, game notes, live stats and radio coverage within:
iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/12/15/womens-basketball-iuwbb-game-preview-iu-meets-oakland-on-saturday-afternoon.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

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IUWBB To Host Slam Dunk For Literacy on Dec. 17 Against Oakland

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Women's Basketball team will take the court with local elementary students this Saturday against Oakland as part of the second annual Slam Dunk for Literacy event at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Over the course of the last semester, the Hoosiers have visited Bloomington elementary schools to motivate students to participate. Over 300 students in grades K-6 participated in the program and 342,068 minutes of reading were done by students throughout the month of November. In addition, over 1,000,000 minutes have been read by all reading challenges held by IU and INSPIRE since 2015.

Nine local elementary school winners will be honored at halftime of Saturday's game against Oakland for their collective efforts in the classroom.

This is the second year the Hoosiers have participated in the program, which is coordinated by the community engagement Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers and the Living Learning Center from IU's school of Education.

Tickets are still available for Saturday's non-conference game against Oakland, which tips off at 5 p.m. To purchase tickets, click here.

http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/12/...k-for-literacy-on-dec-17-against-oakland.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

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IU looking for bench production against Oakland
by Josh Eastern

IU women's basketball coach Teri Moren was not particularly pleased even though her team came away with two home wins last Thursday and Sunday.

She called out her bench and her team’s defense after the Thursday win against Northern Kentucky. Then Sunday against Valparaiso, the bench faltered down the stretch, and Moren was forced to put the starters back in in the fourth quarter. After a week off due to final exams, the Hoosiers have a chance to correct their faults.

IU (7-3) will welcome in the Oakland Golden Grizzlies to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday to begin an important stretch of schedule during winter break.

“This is a really good Oakland team,” Moren said. “Real concerned about the Oakland team coming in here on Saturday. We need to make sure that we shore up some things tomorrow and then are ready come Saturday.”

Junior guard Tyra Buss and junior forward Amanda Cahill, along with senior guard Alexis Gassion, have been the go-to players for IU this season. The trio has averaged around 100 combined minutes per game. They have done plenty to help the team thus far. Moren said she is fine with that, but wants to see some other players step up.

In her third season in Bloomington, Moren finally has the depth she wants. After consistently running with an eight or nine-man rotation last season, Moren now has 11 or 12 players who she can give meaningful minutes to.

Now, she said she wants the bench to step up and play. They have been able to get bench points from contributors like sophomore guard Tia Elbert, who scored 10 points Sunday. But the next step is locking down on defense, not turning the ball over, and being able to provide quality minutes.

“I know the bench has been struggling the past few games so we have to make sure we’re ready to go,” Elbert said. “I take it upon myself to be the leader of that group to make sure we’re doing what we need to do.”

Oakland will be an interesting opponent for IU. The Hoosiers travel south to face the Florida Gators next Tuesday and this is their final tune up game for that matchup. IU has already dropped some other games away from home against major conference teams like North Carolina State and Auburn.

Before worrying about Florida, IU needs to focus on an Oakland team that could present some challenges. The Golden Grizzlies come in with a record of 5-4. To improve their home win streak to 20 straight games, the Hoosiers will need to lock in on defense as Oakland averages close to 80 points per contest.

“We’ve missed our fans, missed Assembly Hall,” Gassion said. “It’s nice to get those W’s back instead of all of those losses.

If there is one thing to look for in this game, it would have to be the bench play. It has been proven that Cahill, Buss and Gassion can get it done. They will be the stars. Now it is time for the supporting cast to get on track before Florida on Tuesday and when Big Ten play starts Dec. 28 at Penn State.

Gassion said there is just one thing she is looking for come Saturday.

“A win!,” Gassion said.

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/12/iu-looking-for-bench-production

Go Hoosiers!

 

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IUWBB: Oakland at Indiana / win 84-59

by Jon Blau

4:58 (4Q): Alexis Gassion with 19 rebounds, along with 15 points. IU up 70-49.

END OF THIRD: Indiana 60 Oakland 43. Tyra Buss wanted foul call on her heave at the buzzer. Slapped her forearm, pointed at Grizzlies.

6:18 (3Q): Jenn Anderson starts the second half with a rejection in the lane, and now picks up a couple of buckets. The first on an off-glass miss by Tyra Buss, putting it back. Then she is fed in the post. IU leads 49-32.

HALFTIME: Indiana 42, Oakland 27. Tyra Buss didn’t score in the second quarter, but still leads Hoosiers with 12. Amanda Cahill with 10. Oakland has hit only 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.

4:24 (2Q): Eight of the Hoosiers’ 12 baskets have been assisted thus far. Nice passing. Also, Amanda Cahill has two made 3s. Her second makes it 36-20, IU.

END OF FIRST: Indiana 22, Oakland 12. Tyra Buss pulls up for a transition 3 with the clock winding down. She has 12 points, as well as two steals and two assists.

4:25 (1Q): Oakland jacking up 3s. The Golden Grizzlies have drilled 2-of-7 thus far. Hoosiers scoring just enough on the other end, but missing layups. Lead 11-8.

Indiana will play its final non-conference game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall versus Oakland before heading to Florida for a two-game tournament. Then it’s Big Ten play. Check back for updates, or follow on Twitter, @Jon_Blau.

http://www.hoosiersportsreport.com/2016/12/iuwbb-oakland-at-indiana/

Go Hoosiers!

Stats with boxscore:
http://sidearmstats.com/indiana/wbball/

GBR!

 

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Gassion Posts Career Day as Indiana Women’s Basketball Rolls Past Oakland, 84-59

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Senior guard Alexis Gassion tied the seventh-best single game rebounding performance in school history as four players scored in double figures to guide Indiana Women's Basketball to its fourth-straight win, 84-59 over Oakland on Saturday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Gassion's sixth career double-double was highlighted by 15 points and a career-high 20 rebounds as she became the first player to reach 20 or more rebounds in a single game since 1999. The Fairborn, Ohio native also posted three assists, two blocks and two steals in the victory, as Indiana improved to 8-3 overall on the 2016-17 season.

Junior forward Amanda Cahill also grabbed a double-double – the 21st of her career – tying a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds. A total of four players posted double-figures including 12 points each from senior forward Jenn Anderson and junior guard Tyra Buss. Buss's 12 points push her streak of double-figure scoring games to 48, one game shy of tying the all-time school record while she also added a game-high six assists, two steals and a block.

Every Hoosier who saw action today scored points including six each from senior guard Karlee McBride and freshman guard Ria Gulley. IU shot 44.4 percent on the day and also posted the victory on the boards (52-36), pulling down a season-high 52. Led by Buss's six assists, IU passed out 15 total on 29 made shots while also tying a season-high six blocks

Oakland's only lead came in the first 15 seconds of the ballgame, as Gassion would respond to even things up early on. Buss went and early 3-for-4 from the free throw line as the Golden Grizzlies (5-5) would tie it up at 5-5 on a Sha'Keya Graves 3-pointer.
IU would close the opening frame on a 11-4 run to take a 22-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, as a rebound by Towner led to a Buss 3-pointer as the buzzer expired. Freshman forward Darby Foresman opened the second by downing a baseline jumper on the feed from Buss. After an Oakland bucket, IU strung together a 6-2 run and nearly doubled up the score, 31-16, on a Gassion layup with 7:05 to play.

Cahill would pop one of her two triples on the day on a pass by Buss to push the lead out to 16 (36-20) at the media break. Free throws by Anderson and redshirt sophomore guard Tia Elbert down the stretch helped IU take a 42-27 lead at the half. Oakland would come within as few as 11 to open the third quarter, but Indiana rattled off three-straight buckets to extend its lead back up to 17 (44-32) with 6:12 to play.

IU would also get some help on a 6-1 run midway through the quarter, and sent the game to its final quarter up 60-43. Posting a victory in every quarter, including a 24-16 advantage to close out the game, the Hoosiers got some help from its bench in the fourth. Reserves would come in to score 14 of its 26 points in the final quarter of action.

NOTES
Senior guard Alexis Gassion led IU with her sixth career double-double (and second this season) with a new career-high 20 rebounds, 15 points, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
Gassion's 20 rebounds are the seventh most in a single game in school history and the most by a player since 1999 (Jill Champan, 21). Her 20 rebounds also tie the most in a single game this season in the Big Ten, tying Brionna Jones of Maryland who had 20 against Washington State on Nov. 26. She finished just two rebounds shy of the single game record of 22. In addition, her 20 rebounds tie as the seventh best single game performance this season in the nation and is just the third player listed at the guard position to pull down 20 or more rebounds.
Gassion also recorded her 600th rebound of her career in the win – and now has 615 total rebounds. She becomes the 13th player in school history to record 1,000 points and 600 rebounds
Junior guard Tyra Buss recorded her 48th straight game in double figures and needs just one more game to tie the all-time consecutive double figure scoring game record (49, Karna Abram).
Buss also moved into the top 10 in assists (290) with her six in the win, pushing her past Kris McGrade (1991-94) to put her No. 10 on the list. With 10 more assists, Buss will become just the 10th player in school history to record 300 assists or more.
Buss now owns 1,189 career points and sits at No. 16 on the all-time scoring list. Gassion also increased her career points to 1,077 and is No. 21 on the all-time scoring list.
Junior forward Amanda Cahill recorded her 21st career double-double and team-high third of the season as she tied a season-high 17 points and added 10 rebounds. She now has 965 career points – 35 points shy of becoming the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 points.
Gassion and Cahill combine for the second duo of the season to both post double-doubles in the same game. Gassion and Buss also did it against Northern Kentucky on Dec. 8. It was also the fifth and sixth double-doubles for IU this season.
All 11 players who played for Indiana on Saturday scored points.
IU improved to 3-0 over Horizon League opponents this season with wins over Northern Kentucky, Valparaiso and Oakland.
Seven of Indiana's eight wins this season have occurred by 25 points or more – including Saturday's 29-point victory over Oakland (87-58).
Indiana's four-straight wins are the longest win streak for the program this season.

UP NEXT
Indiana hits the road for its final two non-conference games of the season when it travels to the Florida Sunshine Classic in Winter Park, Fla. The Hoosiers will face Florida (Dec. 20) and Stony Brook (Dec. 21) on the campus of Rollins College with both tipoffs set for 7:45 p.m. ET.

Boxscore and highlight & postgame videos within:
http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2016/12/...mens-basketball-rolls-past-oakland-84-59.aspx

Go Hoosiers!

 

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Big three carries IU to blowout win
by Josh Eastern

All season long, a big three has carried IU women's basketball.

The trio, composed of senior guard Alexis Gassion, junior guard Tyra Buss and junior forward Amanda Cahill, carried the Hoosiers once again on Saturday. IU Coach Teri Moren has been looking for the bench to get more involved the past few games, but that didn't quite happen against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

Behind double-double performances from both Gassion and Cahill, IU rolled past Oakland 84-59 to win its 20th straight game at home.

“I thought they came out in the first half and were pretty sharp,” Moren said. “It got a little sloppy there down the stretch, but I thought Amanda Cahill again played – her energy and her hustle stood out for me.”

Buss scored each of her 12 points against Oakland in the first quarter to get her team started, and found opportunities for her fellow Hoosiers as the game continued. At game's end she was responsible for six of IU's 15 assists and had upped her double-digit scoring streak to 48 straight games.

The Hoosiers usually shoot upwards of 50 percent from the field. Saturday, that wasn’t the case. They shot just 44 percent from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. It wasn’t a prototypical shooting day, but IU still found a way to pull out a 20-plus-point win.

“This was a game I was concerned about,” Moren said. “Watching them on film, they had a lot of different pieces, they’re athletic, and the thing I worried about the most was if they got hot from the outside.”

Gassion impressed on the boards again and Cahill put in another all-around performance. Gassion finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds while Cahill had 17 points and 10 rebounds. It's Cahill's second straight double-double and the 21st of her career.

Senior forward Jenn Anderson contributed 12 points and five rebounds in her fifth straight start after coming off the bench to start the campaign.

IU's reserves didn't produce much, but their lack of scoring was made up for by the starters. Midway through the fourth quarter, IU had just eight bench points. The Hoosiers finished with 22 points from bench players, but the majority didn't come during meaningful minutes.

Defensively the Hoosiers turned in a strong performance. IU scored 13 points off 15 turnovers, notched 10 steals and recorded six blocks. Gassion and Anderson finished with two each.

“We knew they were going to use a lot of pick and roll action so we had to get our hands high when we would rotate,” Anderson said. “We got a ton of deflections and that led to offense and that led to run outs that we had.”

IU now has a few days off before it travels to Winter Park, Florida for the Florida Sunshine Classic. The Hoosiers will take on the Florida Gators Tuesday and play Stony Brook Wednesday.
“All week coach has preached that we need to make growth defensively and pick up our defensive energy,” Anderson said. “Going on the road to a good Florida team and then to Stony Brook, we have to finish strong before we come back from the Christmas break and start Big Ten play.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/12/big-three-carries-ui-to-blowout-win

Go Hoosiers!

 

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Gassion's 20 rebounds highlight weekend win
by Jake Thomer

During the fourth quarter of a blowout win over Northern Kentucky last Thursday, senior guard Alexis Gassion had already notched 15 rebounds.

IU women’s basketball assistant coach Janese Banks said she and graduate manager Mistie Bass jokingly told Gassion to get back out on the court and go get herself 20 boards, but the Hoosiers wound up winning by 51 and Gassion wasn’t needed much in the final frame.

Gassion completed Banks and Bass’s task just nine days later when she gathered 20 rebounds, and 15 points, in an 84-59 win over Oakland on Saturday afternoon.

The 20 rebounds for Gassion were the seventh-most ever by a Hoosier, and the most since Jill Chapman grabbed 22 boards in 1999. No other player in the Big Ten has collected as many rebounds in a game this year. Eight of her boards came on the offensive glass.

“For her just to be all over for us this year has been huge,” Banks said. “Lex does so many silent things, and she’s such a key part for us defensively. For her to dominate the boards like she did, kudos to her.”

Possibly most impressive of all was the fact Gassion didn’t pick up a foul during 31 minutes of play. However, the disciplined defense is nothing new for the Ohio native. She now has just eight fouls in 11 games and more than 340 minutes of court time this season.

Banks said she was happy with the overall defensive effort Saturday, noting the 52-36 rebounding advantage the Hoosiers had over the Golden Grizzlies. Banks said IU focused on limiting senior forward Hannah Little’s rebounding ability. Little finished with a less than average day on the glass and collected just 10 boards.

“She was averaging 12 boards a game, so one of our focuses was how many offensive rebounds she had,” Banks said. “So then offensive rebounding became a key focus for us as well.”

Gassion is a guard, but at five-feet-eleven inches tall she has a size advantage over most who guard her. She is averaging 7.5 rebounds per game after Saturday’s performance, good for second-best on the team.

Junior forward Amanda Cahill added 10 rebounds and senior forward Jenn Anderson contributed five boards, but Gassion’s all-around defensive performance stole the show. In addition to the 20 rebounds, Gassion added two blocks and two steals.

The starting five has played a pivotal role in IU’s success this season. Gassion, Cahill and junior guard Tyra Buss have combined to play around 100 minutes per game.

With Big Ten play less than two weeks away, the Hoosiers’ reliance on their veterans only figures to increase.

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2016/12/gassions-20-rebounds-highlight-weekend-win

Go Hoosiers!