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Buss, Cahill Push Hoosiers To Victory On Senior Day

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Program-shifting players come few and far between for most programs in any sport — players like former IU running back Tevin Coleman or former IU center Cody Zeller.

But IU Women’s Basketball had two program-shifting players in the same 4-year frame, in forward Amanda Cahill and guard Tyra Buss, who entered the program the same season as IU head coach Teri Moren in 2014.

After losing the head coach that recruited them, a 15-16 freshman season and an exodus of transfers the following offseason, the two seniors were an integral part in delivering one of the most special seasons in IU history in 2015 — a 21-12 season, 14-0 home record and the first NCAA Tournament win in 33 years.

Whatever has been thrown at the two seniors, it’s not been surprising to see them end on the winning side. They continued those winning ways Saturday afternoon against Nebraska in what was the final regular season home game of their decorated careers, defeating the Cornhuskers 83-75.

“You always hope that it’s special for your seniors,” Moren said. “But the emotions, you always hope that you can hold those off until after the game.”

After stumbling out of the gates and barely clinging onto a 19-19 first quarter, IU was able to keep its emotions in check for the remainder of the game, and Buss and Cahill were a large part of that.

Cahill had three blocks in the first quarter and eventually ended the game with a career-high seven blocks, which ties for second in most blocks for a Hoosier in a single game in program history.

“Nothing that Amanda Cahill does defensively ever surprises me,” Moren said. “She’s just so smart, and she just has a way about just understanding her timing. She just has a phenomenal understanding of the game, and her anticipation skills and her awareness of what’s going on around her has always been phenomenal.”

While Cahill also contributed 16 points offensively, and squared that number off with 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double fo the season, Buss controlled the offense for the entire game.

The senior guard posted 37 points, missing her career-high by one point, and shot 13-for-25 from the field. She also added five rebounds and five assists.

“Tyra was really special,” Moren said. “She played special today, on a special day.”

Midway through the third quarter, what appeared to be a day of pageantry and celebration of Cahill and Buss nearly turned ugly, as Buss was tangled up with Nebraska forward Jasmine Cincore.

Cincore had wrapped Buss’ arm and jumped for a rebound, which resulted in her awkwardly falling on top of Buss. Clutching her shoulder, Buss struggled to get off the ground as Assembly Hall was silent. After being helped off the floor, Buss said she worked her shoulder until it felt better, and one minute later, she was checking herself back in.

“Coach just kind of looked at me and gave me the nod, and then (assistant coach Glenn Box) just told me to get (freshman guard Keyanna Warthen) out,” Buss said. “They knew that I was going to be ready, and they just trusted me.”

During what looked like an injury that could have ended Buss’ day, let alone her season, Moren said she was never worried about her star guard.

“No. I’ve seen that so many times,” Moren said about Buss being on the ground. “As soon as I got out to her — you always look for key words, like ‘heard something pop' or 'can’t pick my arm up.' That wasn’t the conversation she was having. She just said she landed awkwardly and felt like she could just kind of shake it out. There was absolutely no question in my mind. It was just a matter of time before she popped back up and gave me the nod that she was ready to go back in.”

When Buss came back in she hit three 3-pointers in the matter of two minutes.

And in one play after the injury, Buss ran toward the baseline, jumped and threw back against her momentum with her hurt shoulder, barely throwing a glance in the direction of her pass. She tossed the ball all the way back to the arc, and it landed in Cahill’s hands perfectly for her to spot up and shoot a three.

Nebraska called a timeout, and Cahill found Buss to celebrate.

“It was a really great pass by Tyra,” Cahill said. “I thought it was a little special because it was our senior night, and that’s something we do pretty well — just knowing where each other is on the floor. She wasn’t looking at all. She just kind of threw it back and it was right to me. It was just kind of a cool moment.”

In support of the two seniors, freshman guard Jaelynn Penn scored 21 points, while junior forward Kym Royster and freshman forward Lynsey Marchese split time working Nebraska center Kate Cain to 10 points and nine rebounds and combined for five points and nine rebounds.

But this win was not the end-all be-all for the Hoosiers. Tyra Buss and her team have much more in mind than winning their Senior Day.

“We’ve got Minnesota coming up on Tuesday, so we’re going to start preparing for them tomorrow,” Buss said. “We’ve just got to keep it rolling because every game matters and the Big Ten is kind of cray this year with a bunch of upsets happening. Anyone can beat anyone, and we believe that we can beat anyone in this conference, so we’re going to continue to have that mindset and just sticking together and believing in one another.”

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