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Lady Hoosiers lose post season opener
An early bucket by the Spartans met with a 3 pointer by Aleksa Gulbe was all of the offense for the first 3 and a half minutes, as both teams drove hard on the transitions, but had difficulty landing the buckets. The Hoosiers shifted gears, and amassed momentum. The Spartans wound up in the foul penalty phase with more than a minute remaining in the first quarter, and after ten minutes of play, the Hoosiers led 16-11.
Quarter 2 was all about braking inside, as both teams created plays with elaborate cuts to the basket. Fortunately for IU, their baskets were falling. Indiana built upon their lead, and the halftime score was 34-26.
A 9-0 run for the Spartans to start off the 3rd quarter gave Michigan State their first lead since the opening minutes, and from then on it was a game! The Referees were active, with 6 fouls being called in the first 5 minutes of the second half, and with 4:13 remaining, a 7th, the 5th on Indiana, and the fourth personal foul on Nicole Cardon-Hillary. MSU would go back and forth with IU for the remainder of the quarter, and took a 2-point lead, 47-45 over the 2nd seeded Hoosiers. This was where the tides completely turned.
The fourth quarter was more whistle blowing, as the Spartans grew their lead. Indiana was beaten at their own game . . . fast-paced transitional offense and strong pressure on the ball. There was no answer for Spartan Guard Nia Clouden, who played 38 minutes, scored 30, and added 6 rebounds. Although Indiana shot 43% from the field, they had 17 turnovers and missed 7 free throws. Final score 69-61, as Michigan State advances to the Semi-finals against the winner of the Rutgers-Iowa game.
Senior IU Gyuard Ali Patberg was visibly shaken after the game, but maintained her composure to say that there would be much bigger games ahead, that the team can’t look back, but instead, needs to keep pushing. Patberg added, “We have to own how poortly we played tonight, but we have a lot of basketball left. This was a wake up call for us, and we will get better.”
In a season that witnessed the Indiana Hoosiers arise to a top ten national team, it was a disappointment to see them outplayed in the second half, to end their hopes of bringing home a Big Ten Tournament Trophy. This coming Monday, the NCAA will announce the March madness brackets, of which Indiana is expected to be a 3 Seeded team.
City of Bloomington Seeks Resident Opinion for Third Biennial Survey
This month, the City of Bloomington will ask residents to participate in the 2021 Bloomington Community Survey. This is the third community-wide, scientific survey of Bloomington residents, and is again being administered by National Research Center, Inc. (NRC). Like the first two surveys, conducted in 2017 and 2019, this survey will gauge residents’ perceptions of the quality and value of City services and current conditions in the community. Against previous years’ results, the new results will provide data for use in comparison with peer cities, help inform decision-making, and help identify relevant shifts in public perceptions of city services and conditions. This year’s survey is updated with several questions informed by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the last week of March, a random and scientific sample of 3,000 households will be mailed invitations to participate in the survey; the first wave of invitations will be sent March 24 and the second, March 31. Participants’ confidential responses will be weighted, analyzed, and published on the city’s open data portal B-Clear. Residents who do not participate in the randomized study have the option of completing the survey online. The results of residents who opt in will be collected, analyzed, and published in a separate data set. The 2019 survey captured the responses of 610 households from a similar representative sample of 3,000 randomly selected residents, yielding a response rate of 21%. An additional 132 residents completed an opt-in survey online. The results of the 2017 and the 2019 surveys are available at https://bloomington.in.gov/communitysurvey. 2021 survey results will be presented in a public meeting later this year and will be available alongside previous years’ results on B-Clear.
Bloomington High School South student to represent Indiana at Poetry Out Loud national finals
| The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation announced today that Indiana’s Poetry Out Loud State Champion Lucia Walker (pictured right), a senior at Bloomington High School South, will be among student finalists competing next month in the 2021 Poetry Out Loud National Finals. Lucia enjoys singing and dancing in choral and theatrical productions, playing lacrosse, and acting as president of her school’s student council and National Honor Society. An archived recording of the 2021 Indiana Poetry Out Loud state finals award ceremony is available online. As state champion, Lucia will receive a $200 cash prize and her school will receive a $500 stipend to purchase poetry books. Each of Indiana’s eight finalists will receive an original Poetry Out Loud screenprint by illustrator Byron Elliott and a signed book of poetry from Indiana’s Poet Laureate Matthew Graham. Students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa will recite poems on the virtual stage in vying for the title of National Champion. With the title comes a $20,000 prize. The 2021 Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals will take place on Sunday, May 2, 2021, and the finals will take place on Thursday, May 27, 2021. Both will be video submission-based competitions and will be streamed on arts.gov. |
Scholastic archery tournament comes to Indy this Saturday
The Indiana National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®) State Tournament will be held this Saturday, March 13, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. This marks the 15th annual tournament held by the program since its inception in January of 2005. The Elements Blue Ribbon and Champions pavilions at the fairgrounds will host the NASP® Bullseye and NASP®/IBO 3D tournaments. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, attendance is limited to participating students and coaches — there is no general admission. All CDC, state, and local guidelines will be followed. Schools across the state that have NASP® as a part of their curriculum were eligible to compete in qualifiers that were held from Jan. 1 through Feb. 7. Nearly 1,500 students qualified and were invited to compete in the NASP® Bullseye Tournament. The NASP®/IBO 3D Tournament will host more than 400 students. Indiana NASP® is provided for schools across the state through the DNR Division of Law Enforcement. The program started in the state in 2002 with 10 pilot schools and now has more than 600 schools trained to deliver the program to Indiana students. More than 70,000 Indiana students have benefitted.