Local Sports Headlines: November 5, 2021

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Indiana Football Travels to Michigan
Indiana Football plays at Number 9 Michigan tomorrow night at 7:30 PM and nationally televised on FOX. It’s the 5th ranked opponent for the Hoosiers and 5th primetime game this season. Indiana is 2-6 and 0-5 in the Big Ten and one more loss and the Hoosiers will not be eligible for a bowl game.  Indiana beat Michigan 38-21 on November 7th 2020 in Bloomington. It marked the first time the Hoosiers have beaten the Wolverines since October 24th 1987. Michigan is 7-1 and 4-1 in the Big Ten and coming off a loss to arch rival Michigan State Last Saturday. Peyton Hendershot is IU’s tight ends receptions (125) and yardage (1,383) leader. His 14 touchdowns only trail Ted Bolser’s 15 from 2010-13.  Linebacker Micah McFadden leads the Big Ten and shares second nationally with 14 tackles for loss, and he has at least one TFL in 13-straight games. Donaven McCulley threw for 242 yards at Maryland last weekend, an Indiana true freshman record and is set to make his second career start. Jim Harbaugh is 56-23 (.709) in his seventh season at Michigan. He owns a 114-50 (.695) overall record with stints at Stanford (2007-10) and San Diego (2004-06). Harbaugh also coached the San Francisco 49ers (2011-14) Harbaugh played at Quarterback at Michigan from 1982-1986 and and played in the NFL from 1987 to 2001 including three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts from 1994-1997. Harbaugh is the brother in-Law of University of Georgia and former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Crean.

Indiana Women’s Basketball Hosts University of Indianapolis in Exhibition Game
Number 8/7 Indiana will host its only public exhibition of the season when it hosts UIndy tonight inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Game time is set for 7 p.m. ET with free admission and fans encouraged to wear red to honor ALS Awarenes. Indiana begins the season ranked a program-high in both national polls, coming in at No. 7 in the USA Today/WBCA coaches’ poll and No. 8 in the Associated Press poll. It was picked to finish second in the annual preseason Big Ten poll and senior guard Grace Berger and junior forward Mackenzie Holmes each earning a spot on the preseason All-Big Ten team. It’s on the heels of a historic season for the Cream and Crimson, who advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2020-21, recorded is sixth-consecutive 20-win season and set a new record with 16 Big Ten wins. Returning are all five of the program’s starters from that campaign including All-Americans and All-Big Ten first team selections in Berger and Holmes. Graduate student guard Ali Patberg returns for her seventh and final season of eligibility as she’s coming off All-Big Ten second team honors. Senior forward Aleksa Gulbe was selected as an All-Big Ten honorable mention as she and senior guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary round out the top returners. Indianapolis finished 11-11 in 2020-21 as it played a Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule only due to COVID-19 restrictions. It returns its top five scorers from a season ago led by senior guard Taylor Drury who averaged 16.7 points per game and shot 45.8 percent from the floor. Senior guard Mickey Sasson started all 22 games last season and added 11.8 points, a team-high 6.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. They were picked to finish third in the 2021-22 GLVC East preseason poll.  The Hoosiers will host their annual ALS Awareness game on Friday night. It holds special meaning to head coach Teri Moren, who lost her mother, Barbara, to the disease in 2014.

Bloomington North and Bloomington South Play for Sectional Football Championship
Bloomington North and Bloomington South will play for the Class 5A Sectional Football Championship at 7 PM this evening at Bloomington South. The Panthers are 7-2 on the season and looking for its 16th sectional championship in school history. The Panthers won 6 sectionals in a row from 2014-2019. The Cougars are 7-3 and looking for its 3rd sectional championship in school history. The Cougars won the sectional in 2010 and 2013 beating Bloomington South at Home 24-21. The Panthers beat the Cougars 28-14 on September 10th at Bloomington South. Head Coach Scott Bless is in his 17th year at Bloomington North he has 77-104 record and 92-134 in 22 years overall. Bloomington South head coach Gabe Johnson is 11-6 in his 2nd season and 25-16 in 4 years overall. Bloomington South has dominated this series leading 45-14 since 1972 and 7-2 all time in sectional meetings. The Panthers have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with the only loss to the Cougars was in 2019 at Bloomington South when they lost 38-27. The winner of this game advances to the Regional Next Friday night against the winner of New Albany and Seymour.  

Indiana Field Hockey Falls in Opening Round of Big Ten Tournament
Indiana Field Hockey fell to Rutgers 3-1 in the opening round of the Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Thursday Afternoon in Piscataway New Jersey. The Hoosiers end the season at 10-10 and 2-6 in the Big Ten for 3rd year head coach and former IU player Kayla Bashore.  Freshman goalie Arabella Loveridge was called into action early. Her back-to-back saves inside the 3rd and 4th minute helped keep Rutgers off the board early on.  Senior midfielder Jes McGivern opened the scoring early on for IU. Senior forward Hailey Couch played a cross through the circle that found McGivern’s stick at the back post for a tap-in goal. Rutgers was handed a penalty stroke early in the second period. Mil Redlingshoefer beat Loveridge to her left despite a diving attempt from IU’s keeper. With Rutgers threatening midway through the second half, Loveridge was equal to another chance to keep the Scarlet Knights from taking the lead.  Rutgers took the lead in the 38th minute with Bridy Molyneaux smashing a ball into the top corner of the net. In search of a goal, IU pulled its goalie with four minutes to play. An ensuing green card to Rutgers gave IU a 12-10 player advantage but couldn’t find the desired equalizer. McGivern scored the first goal of her IU career in her final ever match. She finishes her IU career with 65 matches played, 43 starts, a goal and an assist. Loveridge made six saves. She closes out her freshman season with 60 saves, nine wins, six shutouts and a 1.97 GAA. IU’s four-women senior class finishes its career with 227 appearances, 158 starts, 26 goals and eight assists.

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