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IUWBB is selected to play in the WNIT: IU moves on, 71-58

IUWBB Selected for WNIT; Will Host Ball State On Thursday

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana Women's Basketball has accepted an invitation and an at-large bid to play in the upcoming Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), announced on Monday night. They will play host to Ball State in the opening round on Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Indiana is making its third appearance in the postseason in the last four seasons, the most since joining the NCAA in 1981-82. It also marks the first back-to-back postseason selections for the Hoosiers since 2007-08 and 2008-09.

IU makes its eighth appearance overall in the WNIT, holding a 9-7 overall record and making its last appearance in 2013-14 where they made it to the third round. Indiana has made 14 appearances in a postseason with WNIT appearances (1998, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013) and five NCAA Tournament berths (1983, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2016) and one NWIT appearance (1991). Prior to the NCAA, IU made an AIAW Final Four appearance in 1973 and two AIAW Elite Eight appearances in 1972 and 1974.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to be selected to compete in the WNIT," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. "To make the postseason for the second time in three seasons and back-to-back seasons since we joined the NCAA umbrella in 1981-82 is a tremendous feat for us. Postseason play is the main goal of this program, and gives us the building blocks for where this program is going." We are even more excited to host postseason basketball in newly renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and for our crowd to help us make a deep run in this tournament. "

Indiana (20-10, 10-6) earns a bid after tying a school-record 20 regular season games and a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten. Junior guard Tyra Buss led a trio of All-Big Ten selections for the most in a season since 2009. Buss is a repeat All-Big Ten First Team selection while junior forward Amanda Cahill earned second team honors and senior guard Alexis Gassion picked up honorable mention nods while earning a place on the All-Defensive team, also a first for the Hoosiers since 2009. At home this season, Indiana holds a 12-2 record and secured its fifth-straight winning season inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. They also posted 10 or more wins for the fourth-consecutive season, including all three seasons under head coach Teri Moren .

The Ball State Cardinals enter Thursday's matchup with a 2-10 overall out of the Mid-American Conference where they went 14-4 in league play. The runners-up in the league this season, Ball State fell in the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament to Buffalo on March 8. Indiana leads the series between the two schools, 28-3, and have not met since 2010. IU has won the last 20 meetings between the two teams which dates back to 1979.

Tickets for the WNIT will go on sale on Tuesday, March 14 at 9 a.m. ET and will be $6 for adult general admission, $4 for IU student general admission and $4 for youth (18 and under). Everyone attending a WNIT game will have to have a ticket to enter (this includes youth ages two and younger). Tickets can be purchased online at IUHoosiers.com, by phone by calling 1-866-IUSPORTS or directly from the IU Ticket Office located just inside the west lobby doors of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

The WNIT bracket is made up of 64 teams in a single-elimination championship format. The field includes 32 teams that earned an automatic berth, and 32 teams that were chosen at-large. The automatic qualifiers are the best teams available from the nation's 32 conferences that were not selected for the NCAA Tournament.

The Postseason WNIT will open with all first-round games taking place Wednesday through Friday, March 15-17. The event culminates Saturday, April 5 with the championship game, which will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network. All games are hosted by participating schools. The WNIT began in 1998 and is in its 19th year.

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Ball State visits IU for opening-round WNIT matchup
by Jake Thomer

Despite not hearing its name called as an NCAA Tournament participant on Selection Monday, IU women's basketball is ready and eager to make a long postseason run in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

After IU men's basketball controversially turned down the chance to host an NIT game earlier this week, the Hoosier women ensured postseason hoops would be played in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, as the Ball State Cardinals will visit IU on Thursday for a WNIT matchup.

When IU Coach Teri Moren spoke to reporters ahead of the game, she left no doubt that her team was looking forward to playing more games in Bloomington.

“We want to be here," Moren told reporters. "We want to be here in our beds, in our surroundings."

When the ball is tipped at 7 p.m. on Thursday, it will have been nearly two weeks since the Hoosiers played last. A loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on March 3 saw the Hoosiers blow a 17-point lead in the second half and bow out of the conference tournament after just one game.

The loss moved IU's season record to 20-10 and ended its NCAA Tournament chances. Nevertheless, IU was selected as a participant in the WNIT for the second time in four years, and the first time in Moren's three-year tenure.

Moren said the benefits of IU continuing to play despite missing the NCAA Tournament are twofold, as her seniors get to extend their collegiate careers while those who will return next year can get more experience to improve for future seasons.

The opening-round contest of the 64-team WNIT offers another home game, and likely start, for senior center Jenn Anderson and senior guards Alexis Gassion and Karlee McBride.

McBride has been on a tear from long range of late, with 16 made 3-pointers in 39 attempts over the past five games. Anderson will also likely be relied upon heavily to hold down the IU frontcourt against a strong group of Ball State forwards.

Ball State sports a 21-10 overall record and a 14-4 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The Cardinals also dropped their opening game of their conference tournament and will have had more than a week off before Thursday's game, which will be broadcast on BTN+.

With a pair of upperclassmen anchoring the frontcourt and leading the Cardinals in scoring, they will undoubtedly present a challenge for the Hoosiers. Senior center Renee Bennett and junior forward Moriah Monaco combine for nearly 34 points per game for the Cardinals, but score in different ways.

Bennett stands six-foot-five inches tall and holds down the paint with a 57.5% field goal percentage from two-point range. Monaco, on the other hand, made 98 3-pointers this season and plays as more of a stretch four, in the mold of IU junior forward Amanda Cahill.

IU and Ball State shared four mutual opponents this season, as both lost to Western Kentucky and Auburn while also each defeating Oakland. Ball State dropped a non conference matchup with Purdue, and IU split a pair of games with its in-state rival.

With either IUPUI or Saint Louis awaiting Thursday's IU-Ball State winner, there are winnable games ahead in the WNIT for the Hoosiers. Both Moren and junior guard Tyra Buss said the goal is clear for IU - to win this tournament, even though it may not be the one they originally set out to play in.

“Even though we had goals, sometimes you have to re-evaluate them and set new ones," Moren told reporters. “We’re excited about the opportunity that we still have to compete.”

http://www.idsnews.com/article/2017/03/ball-state-visits-iu-for-opening-round-wit-matchup

Go Hoosiers!
 
IUWBB Gets Past Ball State, 71-58, In WNIT First Round

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Behind a 19-point effort from junior Tyra Buss and a 43.1 field goal percentage, Indiana Women's Basketball pushed past the Ball State Cardinals, 71-58, on Thursday night in the first round of the WNIT at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Buss added four assists, four rebounds and a steal as she went 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the victory. Junior forward Amanda Cahill added 16 points and four rebounds while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the line as Indiana combined to go 19-for-21 from the charity stripe (90.1 percent).

The Hoosiers were also good from deep, shooting 40 percent and nailing eight 3-pointer in the win with two each from Cahill, Buss, senior guard Karlee McBride and Gassion.

Senior guard Alexis Gassion also chipped in 14 points and tied a team-high six rebounds and led with six assists and a steal. Sophomore forward Kym Royster came off the bench to score six points and also grab six rebounds while senior center Jenn Anderson contributed nine points.

Indiana busted open the game in the first quarter, going on a 12-2 run just six minutes into to the game after a McBride three would lead to a Ball State timeout. Another run, this one an 8-0 advantage, also helped the Hoosiers match its largest lead of the quarter as an Anderson steal led to a Buss layup with 3:07 left.

IU would take a 28-12 advantage after the first and took its largest lead of the night on one of Gassion's 3-pointers with 6:22 left in the second quarter. But it was a bit of a sloppy quarter for the Hoosiers as the Cardinals (21-11) took advantage of those miscues as a 10-0 run cut the lead down to 12 with 3:23 remaining.

McBride would answer the call with another from long range but Indiana would go scoreless from the field to end the half, up 40-29. IU would stretch its lead coming out in the third quarter, after a good bucket by Royster made it a 44-31 lead. Going up by 20 again on a pair at the line by Royster with just under five minutes to play.

Eventually taking a 57-40 lead after the third, Indiana would see Ball State would come within eight in the early goings of the fourth quarter. But Anderson would prove to be clutch as she grabbed the offensive board, stuck it back and got the foul to complete the 3-point play. A persistent Ball State offense would answer back and again cut it to less than double figures with a Moriah Monaco 3-pointer but it was Anderson again who came up big for IU as she took the behind-the-back pass from Cahill to the rim. Indiana would seal off the game using the bonus to its advantage, going 5-for-6 at the line in the final 2:47 of play take the game.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Teri Moren
"We were very excited to be back at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall tonight. We had a terrific crowd tonight. It is a Thursday night, March Madness is going on, there are a lot of games on tv right now and our fans came out to support us. They were huge tonight. I just want to make sure that I publicly thank them, and I hope that they will return on Sunday at 2:00 p.m., we find out later tonight who we will be playing, but we know that we will be playing here on Sunday. I am really happy for our players. I thought that they came out, especially for the first half, with a lot of great energy, we hit shots and we were terrific defensively throughout the game. This is a team that runs a lot of sets, we only had one day, a day and a half, to prepare. We tried to make it as simple as we could, and give them a gameplan that they were comfortable with. I thought that they executed in a really great way tonight, especially defensively. I think that is why we are sitting here and moving on. It is because of the job that we did on the defensive end. I am really proud of our guys and we look forward to the opportunity to keep advancing."

NOTABLE
With the win, Indiana advances to the round of 32 in the WNIT.
The Hoosiers improve to 10-7 all-time in the WNIT, including a record of 7-1 in home games. The Hoosiers are 6-1 all-time in the first round of the WNIT.
The 71-58 win over Ball State is the 21st victory of the season for the Hoosiers, which ties a program record for wins in a season. The Hoosiers have now won 21 games in a season seven times. The last time they won 21 games was the 2015-16 season.
IU's four-year senior class of Jenn Anderson, Karlee McBride and Alexis Gassion also wins its 78th game, the most of any class in IU history.
Indiana improves to 13-2 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall this season.
After Ball State scored the first basket to go up 2-0, the Hoosiers used a 12-0 run over the next 3:20 of the first quarter to take a 12-2 lead.
The Hoosiers made nine of their first 13 field goals and led by as many as 23 (35-12 at the 6:22 mark of the second quarter).
Ball State cut the Indiana lead to eight, 62-54 at the 3:42 mark of the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers responded with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 16 at 70-54
Indiana shot 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) from the free-throw line in the game. Indiana outscored Ball State by 15 points at the free-throw line.
The Hoosiers tallied 16 assists on 22 field goals.
Indiana outrebounded Ball State 39-31, including 12 offensive rebounds. The Hoosiers turned those 12 offensive rebounds into 16 second chance points.
Tyra Buss hit her first four shots and lead the Hoosiers with 19 points. Buss moved into ninth on the Hoosiers all-time list for career scoring and now has 1,557 points.
Amanda Cahill scored 16 points on 5-of-9 from the field, including two 3-pointers. Cahill grabbed four rebounds and is now one rebound shy of becoming the sixth player in school history with at least 1,200 points and 800 rebounds.
For the ninth time this season the Hoosiers hold an opponent under 60 points. The Hoosiers are 9-0 this season when holding an opponent under 60 points.
UP NEXT
Indiana will host Saint Louis on Sunday, March 19 in the second round of the WNIT at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET. Tickets for the matchup will go on sale on Friday morning at 9 a.m.

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