The College World Series does its press conferences a little different. Instead of having one coach at a time, they have four. In this case, that meant Tracy Smith had his press conference at the same time as Louisville’s Dan McDonnell, Oregon State’s Pat Casey and Mississippi State’s John Cohen. The transcript, provided as always by ASAP Sports, follows.
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OMAHA, Neb. — In their first 36 hours in Omaha, the Indiana Hoosiers were made to feel like celebrities and the city’s adopted sons.

Nebraska sports fans have a reputation for being welcoming. Visiting teams at Nebraska Cornhuskers football teams get standing ovations. But many of the otherwise neutral local fans the Hoosiers have run into made it clear they will be rooting for Indiana in its opening game of the College World Series against Louisville today at 8 p.m. at TD Ameritrade Park. Oregon State and Mississippi State meet at 4 p.m. today and the winners of losers of those games will meet Monday.

Part of the reason the Hoosiers are receiving the support is that they’re making their first ever trip, having won all of one NCAA Tournament game before this season and never advancing out of a regional. But much of it also has to do with the new conference affiliation of the school an hour away in Lincoln.

“It’s been awesome,” redshirt sophomore pitcher Aaron Slegers. “Just shagging fly balls out there (during Friday’s practice). I hear fans saying, ‘Yeah, we saw you pitch at Nebraska. We saw you guys play really well at Nebraska. We’re backing for the Big Ten school. It’s awesome to see you guys out here.’ That sort of thing. … Being in the Midwest, it’s almost sort of natural they rally around the Midwest school. It’s been awesome to be in that role.”
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FINAL: KENTUCKY 84, INDIANA 78. Kentucky wins 3rd in a row in series and 7 of the last 10.

Just like that, Ashton Feldhaus hits back to back 3s to boost Kentucky lead to 82-74 with 52 seconds left. Big shots.

Somehow, Indiana has cut the deficit to 2 points. Hoosiers girls trail 76-74 with 2:11 to go. Done it all without Stephanie Mavunga.

Under-4: KENTUCKY 75, INDIANA 69. Ind. on a 9-1 run. 3:29 to play. Jill Morrison to the line for Indiana after the break.

Under-8: KENTUCKY 65, INDIANA 56. Hoosier girls not completely out of it, but sure would help to have Miss Basketball available.

UNDER-12: KENTUCKY 58, INDIANA 47. Just as Indiana cuts deficit to 4, Kentucky responds with 7 points in 26 seconds. KY leads 58-47 at 11:54 mark.

Under-16: KENTUCKY 51, INDIANA 43. Hoosiers girls on an 8-3 run to start 2nd half. Larryn Brooks hasn’t shownmuch of a shot, but her handling and quickness are really sticking out. After bricking a shot moments ago, she hustled back to halfcourt and made a quick deflection out of bounds. That’s a hustle play you like to see.

HALFTIME: KENTUCKY 48, INDIANA 35. Inventory of bad things: Indiana trails by 13 at halftime, Miss Basketball is on crutches, 17 (unofficial) 1st-half turnovers. Ally Lehman and Dakota Weatherford lead Indiana with 6 points. Taya Reimer scored Ind’s 1st basket of game at 18:08. Scoreless since. Makayla Epps, Kentucky’s Miss Basketball, with a team-high 12 points.

Under-4: KENTUCKY 46, INDIANA 31. Closest the Hoosier girls have been is down 8. Indiana breaking the press, but not doing much after.

Under-8: KENTUCKY 33, INDIANAN 16. Still not much going right for Hoosier girls.

Under-12: KENTUCKY 23, INDIANA 11. Hoosier girls really dug themselves a hole, while looking like they’ve never seen a press before. Ugly night for Indiana so far.

Under-16: KENTUCKY 15, INDIANA 4. KY’s Larryn Brooks with 2 points on 1-for-2 shooting so far. Showing real nice handle. Very quick.

Indiana knew KY would press. So far, not so good. Kentucky up 9-0 1:43 into the game. 3 turnovers on 3 possessions for Indiana.

PREGAME: We’re at Freedom Hall in Louisville to kick off the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Series. First up are the girls, who’ll tip at 5:30.

There are a pair of IU signees to keep an eye on tonight. For Indiana, forward/center Jenn Anderson will come off the bench. Kentucky features Larryn Brooks, a point guard who was one of the runner-ups for Ms. Basketball.

We’ll have updates here and on Twitter at @BowieMike.

Jenn Anderson was always attached to Curt Miller.

Whether it was at Bowling Green or elsewhere, Anderson knew two things about the recruiting process and her immediate plans: she’d graduate from Westfield in 2013 and play four years of college basketball for Miller.

So, when Miller offered the 6-foot-3 center a scholarship only a few weeks after taking the Indiana job last spring, Anderson didn’t hesitate to commit.
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The next stop in former Indiana women’s basketball player Aulani Sinclair’s hope to play professionally is taking her east.

The Far East, that is.

Sinclair will travel to China this week as part of the NetScouts USA Women’s All-Star Basketball Team. The squad, which is comprised of college players and recent graduates from around the nation, will play 11 games in two weeks against the likes of the Chinese National B Team, the Australia Rising Opals and the Hungary National Team, among others.

For Sinclair, an Eminence native who graduated from IU this spring, the two-week barnstorming run could help her land a contract playing professionally overseas. Sinclair has already hired an agent and said she hopes to have a better understanding of her professional prospects when she returns to the United States on July 1.
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We’ll be here.