BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Another pair of double-doubles and a strong second half helped lead Indiana to a 64-49, on Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Junior forward Kym Royster set a new career-high with 15 rebounds, seven of which were offensive, to go along with a career-high 14 points to record her second-career double-double. Senior forward Amanda Cahill turned in her second double-double in as many games with 13 points and 10 boards while senior guard Tyra Buss led all scorers with a game-high 23 points and a game-high five assists.
Indiana shot 41.5 percent from the floor on the night, including 44.4 percent in the third quarter. They would go on to outrebound the Jaguars, 58-35, with strong performances from freshman guard Jaelynn Penn who grabbed nine and sophomore forward Bre Wickware who recorded eight.
Freshman Bendu Yeaney also joined her teammates in double figures with 10 points to go along with six rebounds.
In the first, IU (1-0) would go up by as many as six after a 7-0 run after Cahill popped it from the right side on the dish from Buss. But Southern would close out the quarter with its own run, this time a 6-0 advantage, to tie the score 17-17 after the first ten minutes.
The Jaguars (0-1) would go up by as many as six in the second quarter, but Indiana closed out the half on an 11-0 run in the final 4:54 including a Buss 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to take a 36-32 lead at halftime.
Heading into the third quarter, Southern would cut the lead down to one less than a minute in before Penn was fouled on a 3-pointer to send her to the line where she sank all three free throws. Royster pushed the IU lead back up to seven with 5:30 to play on a move inside while Buss help stretch the lead back to ten on a layup. The Hoosiers would hold the Jaguars to just seven points in the fourth quarter to hold on for the victory.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Teri Moren
"I thought that this was a great test for us. Southern was a team that we didn't have much film on, we were their very first game and we had to go based on last year's film and it's kind of difficult to simulate just how aggressive and long that they were. But I thought it was a great test for us. Not obviously very happy with our turnovers and us not taking care of the ball tonight. I thought that was not the stuff we wanted to take especially when our turnover goal tonight was under 12. Tonight, we wanted to be right at seventy five percent and we were under that. Two areas where we fell short tonight, but as far as the kind grind it out game it was for our young kids especially. Tyra, Amanda and Kym have certainly have been in games like that, but I thought it was a great experience for our younger kids."
NOTABLE
- Indiana wins the first ever meeting between the two schools.
- Seniors Amanda Cahill and Tyra Buss made their 100th career starts in 100 career games played.
- Junior forward Kym Royster secured her second-career double-double with new career-highs with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
- Senior forward Amanda Cahill notched her 31st career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- With her 23 points, Buss now has scored 1,652 points in her IU career as she sits seventh all-time and is 117 points shy of fifth place (Cyndi Valentin, 1,769). She also took over sole possession of second place all-time in assists with her five dimes and currently has 416 in her career.
UP NEXT
Indiana returns to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Friday, November 17 when it hosts Western Kentucky. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
Story courtesy of IU Athletics.
