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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Go Hoosiers!