GAME NOTES: The Indiana Hoosiers (13-12 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) travel to West Lafayette for a Monday evening game against the Purdue Boilermakers (16-9 overall, 7-4 Big Ten). The game tips-off at 7:00 PM at Mackey Arena and will be televised on BTN with Lisa Byington and Vera Jones on the call.
Indiana is riding a five game winning streak, which ties the longest Big Ten conference winning streak for a Teri Moren led Hoosier team.
Indiana won the first game against Purdue on January 6th in Bloomington. The Hoosiers were in control for most of the game and won convincingly, 72-54.
AMANDA CAHILL GOING OUT STRONG
As a senior, you want to finish your career feeling like you gave it your best in the final stretch run. Amanda Cahill appears to be doing just that, playing some of the best basketball of her IU career over the last 10 games. Take a look at her performance over that 10 game stretch compared to her career and senior year to date statistics:
To put it simply, Cahill has been on fire, and her own hot streak has been a major impetus behind the team’s recent improved play and 5 game winning streak. To be honest though, while the recent improvement is clear, Cahill has been performing at a high level for the Hoosiers since the day she arrived in Bloomington. She’s just been doing it under somewhat of a shadow. Oh don’t get us wrong, she does have her own bobble head and all:
The best analogy that we can come up with is that she’s Scottie Pippen playing alongside Michael Jordan. And oh by the way, both Cahill and Pippen wear/wore #33. That cannot be a coincidence. Okay, it probably is, but we digress.
We all know who Jordan is here. We’ve documented her seemingly daily assault on the Indiana record books. But Scottie Pippen is in the Hall of Fame. And Amanda Cahill might find herself in the IU Hall of Fame one day as well.
Cahill has been a 4 year starter for IU along with Tyra Buss. Together the dynamic duo has led Indiana women’s basketball to new heights. During their sophomore year they reached the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to number one seeded Notre Dame. Their junior season was their second consecutive 20 win season. The Hoosiers narrowly missed the NCAA tournament as an at large selection and went on to reach the quarterfinals of the NIT.
Cahill has been quietly making her own assault on the IU record books as well. Against Wisconsin a couple weeks ago she grabbed her 1,000th career rebound as she became only the third IU player to reach that mark.
According to IU, she’s just the second-ever player to record over 1,600 points and 1,000 rebounds. She ranks seventh all-time in scoring with 1,690 points, third all-time in rebounds with 1,021, third in all-time double-doubles with 37 and seventh in blocks with 112. She is also seventh amongst all active Division I players in rebounds.
And as if all of that wasn’t enough, last year she won academic All-American honors as well. Yep, had she played during any other 4 years at Indiana she would have been the center of it all — and that would have been quite appropriate.
But we suspect Scottie Pippen didn’t worry too much about Michael Jordan as he was being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. There was room in the Hall for both of them. Similarly, we doubt that Cahill will look back during her probable IU induction ceremony one day with anything but fondness on her role as part of this Hoosier dynamic duo.
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Main photo – Rebecca Mehling, IDS
