With a WNIT invite quite possibly waiting in the wings, the Hoosiers could not muster enough comeback magic to upset Ohio State.

Jessica Davenport finished with 30 points, 17 of them on free throws, and former high school teammate Star Allen got a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) playing second fiddle for the Buckeyes (27-2).

Indiana forced 19 turnovers and came back from 18 down in the second half to cut the lead to six on two occasions, but a missed free throw by Kim Roberson on the first of a one and one, and then a pair of freebies from Davenport put a halt to the comeback, preventing the Hoosiers from getting closer both times.

Roberson again led IU with 15 points off the bench, and Sarah McKay had 14 points and five blocks. Both McKay and Whitney Thomas fouled out in the game’s waning moments while trying to stop Davenport and Allen’s strong inside moves.

The Buckeyes will meet the winner of the 4/5 game (Penn State and Illinois), now underway.
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OK, this isn’t exactly shocking news with 150 players being picked, but D.J. White was named a National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District selection today.

White was a first-team selection in the NABC’s District 10, along with Purdue’s Carl Landry, Ohio State’s Greg Oden, Butler’s A.J. Graves and Notre Dame’s Russell Carter.

The District 10 second team includes Ohio State’s Mike Conley Jr., Butler’s Mike Green, Wright State’s Dashaun Wood, Notre Dame’s Colin Falls and Akron’s Romeo Travis.

Four Big Ten players were named to the All-District team in District 11: First team – Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker and Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel; second team – Wisconsin’s Kammron Taylor and Illinois’ Warren Carter.

Iowa’s Adam Haluska was a first-team All-District 12 pick and Penn State’s Geary Claxton was a second-team All-District 3 pick.

For a complete list of all the NABC all-district teams, click here.

The Hoosiers are on schedule to tip off right around 8 p.m.

In Game 1, Wisconsin torched Michigan, 81-59, to advance to a Friday quarterfinal against second seed Purdue. Ben Davis grad Janese Banks led all scorers with 23 points, while first team All-Big Ten selection Jolene Anderson had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Rae Lin D’Alie added 10 assists.

There was a lot of action outside of Evanston last night for the Hoosiers.

IU recruits Eli Holman and Eric Gordon both played last night (not on the same team, that’s next year), and both came up victorious.

Here is the run down…I’m in between classes right now, but some things just can’t wait.

Holman had his worst game of the season last night, but Richmond was still able to prevail in the second round of the North Coast Section playoffs. Richmond defeated Eureka last night, 54-51.

Holman finished the game with only 10 points. But to put Holman’s game in perspective, his teammate, Wendell McKines, who averages almost 40 points a game, was held to 12.

Richmond’s next game will be Saturday night, when they take on the defending champions, Montgomery-Santa Rosa. The two teams met in last year’s final, but Holman missed the game due to his suspension.

Hoosier Scoop favorite Lonnie Coleman has come under fire lately after getting into an altercation with McKines in practice last week. Coleman, who is an assistant for Richmond and Holman’s mentor, told me stood up to McKines after the forward wouldn’t stop running his mouth in practice. Apparently, McKines has been pulling similar stunts all season, and his incident in practice last week was the culmination of his bad behavior.

I know Coleman and Holman are very close, so when I was exchanging e-mails back and forth with Coleman this week I asked if the ongoing argument has turned into a distraction.

“’E’ is handling it well,” Coleman said in e-mail. “He I just frustrated that one player is allowed to control everything.”

Like Holman, Eric Gordon had a less than stellar game last night, but his team was able to win its sectional opener, 66-59 over Carmel.

The future Mr. Basketball managed only half of his points average, scoring an economic 15 points in the game. It was the first time Gordon hadn’t led North Central in scoring all season. That award went to 6-foot-8 senior Adnan Hodzic, who had 22.

North Central resumes action Friday night when they play Noblesville at 7:30 p.m.

Click here to hear what coach and player had to say after the 69-65 win at Northwestern Wednesday night.

Our new Indiana sports web site — an extension of HeraldTimesOnline.com — will debut tomorrow as part of a larger re-design. Take a look if you get a chance and let us know what you think.

Here’s Doug’s column explaining the new site.

Just point your browser to www.HoosiersHQ.com Friday to check it out.
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Indiana 69, Northwestern 65 — Final

The Hoosiers squeaked out their self-described “must win” game to defeat the Wildcats, 69-65.

Kelvin Sampson most likely would have returned to Bloomington with a loss if it wasn’t for the spectacular play of Rod Wilmont. The senior had a career night, finishing with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Wilmont set the school record for 3s in a game, shooting 9-14 from beyond the arc.

The game went down to the wire despite the Hoosiers outrebounding the Wildcats, 34-21.

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:09, second half: Indiana 68, Northwestern 65

Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson opts for a time out to set up the last play. Wonder how much film he’s watched of Northwestern in this situation?

He must have felt confident that he has some general idea what they’ll do, or at least he believe his team is more organized coming off a restart.

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1:40, second half: Indiana 63, Northwestern 58

Ok, forget everything I said about how well Indiana has handled the pressure. Three quick steals and baskets changes everything.

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2:42, second half: Indiana 62, Northwestern 52

Indiana hasn’t had to break the press much, but did it well there.

Five players in Indiana history have hit eight 3-pointers in a game, most recently Robert Vaden last season.

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2:43, second half: Indiana 60, Northwestern 52

Wilmont just set the school record with his ninth 3-pointer.

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7:41, second half: Indiana 50, Northwestern 46

Time for the Hoosiers to start passing the ball with some authority.

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10:03, second half: Indiana 48, Wildcats 44

Sampson is going to the drawing board. No, I don’t suddenly have an affinity for cliches. He really is. What is he diagramming?

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11:20, second half: Indiana 48, Wildcats 41

I live only a block up Henderson form the creek in question. My guess is that the rocks were placed there to reinforce the the ground there. It had eroded quite a bit since I’ve been here, and that’s only six months. It was getting pretty high on a regular basis.

Oh, and basketball. The Hoosiers continue to be baffled by the fact that Northwestern is running and hustling all over the place on both sides of the ball. Just baffled. But the 3-point shot is carrying them through.

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13:12, second half: Indiana 48, Northwestern 39

On a night where Indiana’s offense has no flow because of Northwestern’s constant trapping at the point of attack, Rod Wilmont is making none of it matter. He’s just stepping back, raising his hands as a sign for Bassett to get him the ball and knocking down shots. He’s 7-for-9 from 3-pointer and has 23 points to go with seven blocks.

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15:07, second half: Indiana 42, Northwestern 35

White with four points in the half and a couple of boards. They’re definitely working to get him shots but he’s not knocking down everything. He’s got a couple of misses and isn’t finishing as strong as he sometimes does.

Bassett with another 3 there. The Hoosiers are 9-for-21 from beyond the arc so far, accounting for 27 points.

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Rod Wilmont’s here. He’s playing well. He’s got 14 points and five rebounds already.

D.J. White, well . . . he’s got three points and two rebounds. Is it really too much to expect for him to take over in a game like this? He’s All-Big Ten and everything, right? It’s just not happening and there doesn’t seem to be a real solid reason for it other than Northwestern is pressure the ball out high and its never getting to him. Let’s see what Sampson has come up with at half time. A few of you have been critical of his in-game coaching abilities lately.

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Half: Indiana 32, Northwestern 28

Wilmont was just keeping it exciting for y’all. He scored nine in the last minute and half, including that banked 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give Indiana less of a lead than it should have but a lead anyway.

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3:51, first half: Northwestern 22, Indiana 20

The Hoosiers are rattled. Lots of pressure from the Wildcats on defense is causing terrible decision making. Wilmont and Ratliff have both forced bad passes on offense and been burned on defense.

Northwestern plays that old Princeton offense, but they resemble Pete Carill’s team for more than just a system. They’re poised and relentless.

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7:27, first half: Indiana 20, Northwestern 14

Calloway is dribbling most with his left hand and only using the injured right arm on cross overs. He’s also favoring his right side on defense. It’s going to take a little while for him to get comfortable again. He’s about to re-enter the game after about a four-minute break.

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13:16, first half: Indiana 9, Northwestern 6

After two too easy baskets for the Wildcats, Sampson called timeout to yank Ratliff and Bassett in favor of Calloway and Shaw.

This is the first time Calloway has played since Feb. 15 because of a separated shoulder. Let’s watch him closely.

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14:39, first half: Indiana 9, Northwestern 2

Ratliff with two early 3s and Wilmont with another. There’s no reason Indiana shouldn’t win big, easy. Northwestern just doesn’t have the players to keep up, not to mention the fact that most of the fans here aren’t cheering for the home team.

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Calloway sitting, at least to start the game.

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No sound system here tonight at Walsh-Ryan Arena. Quite the inopportune time to have this malfunction. The Senior Night ceremony was just conducted in total silence. I was hoping at least someone could do sign language of the planned announcements, but no go.

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About 30 minutes to game time here (or at least senior day activities). Calloway was out early shooting around but there’s been no indication of whether he’ll play. He’s still being called a “game-time decision.”

At least half the fans here so far — it’s pretty sparse — are wearing Indiana colors. It’s a terrible blend, the Purple of Northwestern and Crimson of Indiana.