INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana-Penn State matchup in the championship game of the 2002 Big Ten Women’s Tournament wasn’t exactly reminiscent of the tale of David versus Goliath, but shades of a Cinderella story were conspicuous.
The Hoosiers, the No. 5 seed entering the tournament, surprised fourth-seeded Iowa and then shocked Big Ten regular season champion and top-seeded archrival Purdue en route to the title game. It turned out the glass slipper fit perfectly again in Monday night’s championship game, as Indiana upset the No. 2 seed Penn State, 75-72.
A suffocating defensive effort that effectively controlled the nation’s most prolific scorer, Kelly Mazzante, by holding her to a relatively low 22 points stands out as the primary reason behind the victory.
The three upsets, while improbable to most, were not a surprise to Indiana’s head coach. A beaming Kathi Bennett, in her postgame press conference, could hardly express what these wins have meant to her team and her program.
“I have never been more proud of a team in my whole life. To do what they have done; to win three games in four days is something very special. It is almost indescribable, what they have accomplished. They sought greatness and went out and got it.”
Play early on in the first half took on a decidedly defensive tone. Tara Jones was tenacious in defending Mazzante from the opening tip. Heather Cassady was cognizant of the necessity for the team to shut down the Big Ten scoring champ from the game’s outset.
“Tara Jones and Jill Hartman told me that they went to bed talking about defending Kelly Mazzante and woke up talking about defending Kelly Mazzante. There was no question that she was our main focus.”
With Indiana’s Tara Jones clamped down on Penn State scoring machine Kelly Mazzante, Tanisha Wright and Rashana Barnes took advantage of and converted on open-shot opportunities. For Indiana, guard Heather Cassady came out on fire from the field. Her 14 points were a game-high in the first half. Whatever the tone in the opening minutes, the game was undeniably close.
Through the first 15 minutes of the half, the contest featured four ties and nine lead changes.
The early tone set by both squads made a quick change as the end of the half neared. Scoring suddenly picked up, with Indiana able to gain the advantage. Erin McGinnis recaptured the lead for Indiana with a bucket at the 4:46 mark to make the game 24-23. An Allison Skapin lay-in stretched that lead to 26-23.
The gap was furthered by Jill Hartman, who nailed a three-pointer with 3:24 remaining to give the Hoosiers the lead at 29-23. A layup by Penn State’s Jessica Brungo cut the Indiana lead to four, but that was as close as the Lady Lions got before the end of the half. A basket by reserve forward Jamie Gathing at 1:39 gave Indiana its largest lead at 34-25. Tanisha Wright’s three-point conversion with 50 seconds remaining decreased that nine-point deficit to six. At the half, Indiana, appearing primed for yet another upset, was on top 36-30.
Indiana’s Erin McGinnis was the Hoosier’s second-leading first-half scorer, posting nine points as well as three rebounds. Center Jill Chapman did not score in the opening stanza but pulled down six big rebounds. Indiana shot a sparkling 45.2 percent from the field to open the game, including 83.3 percent from behind the three-point line.
The Lady Lions were paced by Kelly Mazzante and Tanisha Wright, who each recorded 10 points. Rashana Barnes chipped in six points. The fast and furious pace continued into the second half, and so did Indiana’s stellar play on both ends of the court. After a Tanisha Wright basket at the 15:12 mark slashed the Hoosiers’ lead to just one point at 41-40, Indiana reeled off a run of 16-3 to jump ahead 57-43 with 8:14 on the clock. In that stretch, six different Hoosiers scored points. The teams traded baskets for the next seven minutes, with Indiana’s lead bulging to as many as 13 and shrinking to as few as six points.
The final seconds of the game saw a flurry of scoring that not only got Penn State back into the game but nearly tied the score or put the Lady Lions ahead. With 34 seconds remaining and Indiana up by nine at 73-64, PSU guard Jess Strom hit a three-pointer. Jill Chapman went to the free-throw line and converted on one attempt, making the score 74-67. With nine seconds remaining, Kelly Mazzante was on target with a three-pointer, chopping the IU lead to four points. Mazzante then was fouled attempting to shoot a three-pointer and was sent to the line for three attempts.
She made two of three to make the score 74-72. Jill Chapman was then fouled at the 4.2 mark. At the free-throw line, she made one attempt to put the Hoosiers up by three. A last-second desperation shot by Penn State was off target, giving Indiana the 75-72 victory and the 2002 Big Ten Tournament championship.
In the Hoosiers’ first two tournament games, Jill Chapman posted 21 and 17 points. While she was only able to record 13 in the title game, all in the second half, Chapman’s rebounding presence was hugely important to the Hoosier cause. She collected 13 crucial boards for Indiana, giving her her third double-double for the tournament. Heather Cassady, the tournament’s MVP, finished the game with 21 points. Erin McGinnis scored 17 points and snagged six rebounds in the game.
Down the stretch, Indiana’s free-throw shooting was clutch. The Hoosiers converted on 14 of their last 18 attempts from the line to help seal the victory. Despite not netting a single three-point basket in the second half, being outscored in second-chance points 26-9 and being outrebounded 43-34, the Hoosiers found a way to win.
In addition to Mazzante’s 22 points, Penn State was paced by freshman Tanisha Wright, who posted 18 points and gathered in six rebounds. Senior Rashana Barnes recorded a double-double, scoring 15 points and collecting 10 rebounds. With this effort, Barnes became just the 12th Lady Lion to top the 1,000-point mark and record 700 rebounds in her career. Penn State, with its 21-11 record, will surely make the NCAA Tournament field but will have to await its seeding placement, which will be announced next Sunday, March 10.
Heading into the conference tournament, there was serious doubt whether Indiana would make the NCAA Tournament field, but with its Big Ten Tournament title comes an automatic bid to the Big Dance. The Hoosiers’ trip to the NCAA Tournament will be their first since 1995. The senior court general, Cassady, relishes this fact.
“It is an incredible feeling. This is a great team. We persisted and believed in ourselves. We knew we had it in us, and we just went out and did it.”
— Compiled from staff reports
