The Indiana Hoosiers (14-12, 7-6) host the Nebraska Cornhuskers (19-7, 10-3) in the final regular season home game for the Indiana women’s basketball team. The tip-off is set for Saturday at noon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The game will be televised on BTN.
The game will mark the final home game for two program legends — Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill. According to IU, a pregame ceremony will take place on the court about 20 minutes before the tip-off, and the two seniors will address the crowd after the conclusion of the game.
BUSS AND CAHILL — THE DYNAMIC DUO
They came to Bloomington together four years ago as promising pieces to an emerging program under Indiana head coach Curt Miller. Then suddenly, before they ever stepped foot on the Assembly Hall floor for a game, Miller resigned during the summer of 2014 and there were concerns that this dynamic duo may look to other programs for their college careers.
And there was good reason to be concerned, because it was clear that Indiana had two very talented players committed to play for the Hoosiers. Each was a high school phenom.
Much has been made recently about whether Romeo Langford will get to 3,135 points and pass Damon Bailey’s Indiana high school boys all-time scoring mark. Buss got to 3,135. During her junior year. Averaging more than 40 points a game during her senior year, Buss came to Bloomington with a substantial amount of buzz and the hope that she might further the transformation of the program — and of course she did.
Cahill was also a highly thought of recruit coming out of Clyde, Ohio. A coach’s daughter, she had a well rounded game and averaged 20.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.2 steals per game in her senior season. She also shot 68 percent from the field and made 50 percent of her 3-point shots. Clyde only lost six games in the four seasons that Cahill played with the team, going 99-6 during that period to go along with two state final four appearances.
Fortunately for Indiana fans, the IU women’s roster and the 2014 recruiting class which included Buss and Cahill were uniformly committed to staying with the Hoosiers when Miller resigned. When IU identified and hired Teri Moren, who was widely seen as a rising star, that seemed to only further cement the resolve of the players to stay with the IU.
From day one, the Buss/Cahill duo was a hit. Together, they have started in all of their 124 career games. In addition to their statistical prowess, each can also add durability to their resume, as neither has ever missed a game.
When you are wickedly talented, start from day one, and never miss a game — you pile up statistics. Lots and lots of statistics. Good luck finding an all-time Indiana statistical category that doesn’t contain Buss or Cahill, or both. They are the only two players in the top 10 of IU scoring to play at the same time.
Buss is the program’s all-time leading scorer. She also holds the all-time lead in free throws made, free throws attempted, and steals. She is currently on pace to become the all-time assists leader.
Cahill recently became the third IU player to record 1,000 rebounds and she’s just the second-ever player to record over 1,600 points and 1,000 rebounds. She ranks seventh all-time in scoring, third all-time in rebounds, third in all-time double-doubles and seventh in blocks.
It’s hard to put the greatness of this tandem into words. We’ve used the Jordan and Pippen analogy. We’ve heard Batman and Robin, or the Dynamic Duo. With one a lock for the IU Hall of Fame and the other fully deserving of that honor, perhaps only one word is needed — Legendary.
Photo credit – Indiana University
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Main photo credit – Ty Vinson / IDS
