Indiana University Women’s Basketball adds UT Martin Transfer Sharnecce Currie-Jelks
The IU women’s basketball program has made a late portal addition to their 2023-24 roster. UT-Martin transfer forward Sharnecce Currie-Jelks announced on her Instagram page she has committed to Indiana. Currie-Jelks averaged 15.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks in 29.4 minutes per game for the Skyhawks as a freshman in 2022-23. She shot 53.9 percent from the field, 23.8 percent from beyond the arc and 73.8 percent from the free throw line.
The 6-foot-2 Currie-Jelks was named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and tabbed to the All-OVC first team. She earned a pair of OVC Player of the Week selections and set a school record with nine OVC Freshman of the Week honors. Hailing from Jackson, Tenn., Currie-Jelks was third in points and field goal percentage in the OVC while coming in fifth in rebounding. She tallied 21 games in double figures while eclipsing 20 points or more in six contests including a season-high 30 points against Southeast Missouri. Currie-Jelks has three years of eligibility remaining. She suffered two ACL tears during high school and thus came into college a bit off the radar.
Indiana University Football gets a verbal commitment from Quarterback Timothy Carpenter for 2024
The Indiana Hoosiers added three-star quarterback Timothy Carpenter to their 2024 recruiting class. Carpenter is a 6’4” 200-pound prospect out of Dayton, Ohio. He chose IU over 14 other offers, mainly from Group of Five programs. Carpenter fits what head coach Tom Allen and offensive coordinator Walt Bell want in their quarterback. He is mobile with a quick release throwing the ball. Carpenter was a participant in the Elite 11 regional camp in Ohio in April. The Hoosiers 2024 class currently has four members and sits at 56th nationally in the ranking according to 247 Sports.
Indiana University Volleyball adds Cincinnati Transfer Avry Tatum
Indiana volleyball head coach Steve Aird announced the addition of University of Cincinnati transfer and 6-2 opposite hitter/middle blocker Avry Tatum to the program on Monday afternoon. Tatum will be the 17th and final member of IU’s 2023 roster this fall. Tatum joins the Hoosiers after a successful freshman campaign for the Bearcats where she played in 86 sets across 24 matches. She made 18 starts on the right side and compiled 215 kills, 58 digs and 37 blocks while hitting .205.
A native of Solana Beach, Calif., Tatum prepped at La Costa Canyon High School and played club volleyball at Wave, one of the nation’s premier programs. She was coached by IU assistant coach Rachel Morris at both stops where she was an All-Conference, All-Region and Second Team All-American selection during her high school career. She recorded 756 kills in three years of high school despite losing her junior season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During her senior campaign in 2021, she led La Costa Canyon to a 30-13 record while tallying 336 kills, 67 blocks, 150 digs and 37 assists on the season.
At Cincinnati in 2022, Tatum had double-digit kills in 12 matches including seven in conference play. She poured in a career-best 22 kills on a .269 clip in a win at Temple on October 7th. She recorded her first career double-double with 18 kills and 14 digs against East Carolina. She was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 10 following her weekend against Temple and East Carolina where she averaged 4.00 kills per set and 1.90 digs per set in a pair of victories.
Tatum joins a second-year class at IU that features sophomore outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles, sophomore right side Melisa Ilter and redshirt freshman setter Natalia Hagopian. She is the 13th California native to play for the Hoosiers and the second on the 2023 roster (Hagopian). She will have immediate eligibility and has three years of competition remaining. Avry is the daughter of Guy and Ashley Tatum and has one sibling, Finn. She plans to major in Sports Management. She will wear No. 13 for the Hoosiers.
Indiana University Softball ends a great 2023 season in the NCAA Tournament Regional Final
Indiana battled to the very end as a historic season came to a close in a 7-3 loss to top seed and No. 4 ranked Tennessee in the NCAA regional final at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Sunday. The Lady Vols (47-8) got on the board first in the opening inning on a two-run homerun. The Hoosiers (44-18) presented opportunities with bases loaded situations in the second and third but failed to get a runner across the plate. Mitchell singled in the fourth into left field but would get stranded as the Vols escaped the inning. Tennessee opened the game up in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs on five hits to increase the deficit to 7-0. Sarah Stone tried to get the bats rolling in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out single but was eventually stranded. The Hoosiers would load the bases in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore outfielder Taylor Minnick’s grounder resulted in an RBI. Runners advanced on a wild pitch to score another run as sophomore pitcher/infielder Briana Copeland stepped up for a two-out single up the middle to make it 7-3. Indiana tallied eight hits to Tennessee’s nine with seven Hoosiers recording hits. Minnick recorded her 55th RBI while Stone tallying her 64th on the season. Copeland and freshman pitcher Sophie Kleiman combined for six strikeouts and two walks.
Indiana scored three runs in the top of the seventh as it defeated Louisville, 4-2, to advance to the Knoxville regional final on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals left two on in the bottom of the first but struck in the second when it scored on a Hoosier error. They tacked on one more on a double to center before taking a 2-0 lead. The Hoosiers showed life in the fifth, as freshman utility Cassidy Kettleman reached on an error and a single up the middle by sophomore outfielder Kinsey Mitchell put a runner in scoring position. But the momentum was quickly taken away as Indiana was caught off the bag at first to end the inning. Redshirt junior utility Cora Bassett singled to the gap to start off the bottom of the sixth as freshman infielder Taryn Kern snuck one through the Louisville defense to reach base with no outs. Bassett reached third on a fielder’s choice and crossed the plate on another fielder’s choice from Sarah Stone to make it a 2-1 deficit. The inning would end on a pop-up from Briana Copeland. Indiana reached on back-to-back singles from freshman Avery Parker and Kettleman in the top of the seventh as it capitalized on a junior infielder Brooke Benson bunt. Benson laid the bunt down on the first baseline as a fielding error sent two runners’ home and Benson to third. Bassett stepped up for the SAC fly to score Benson from third before the inning was complete to give IU a 4-2 lead. Sophomore pitcher Heather Johnson came in for five innings of relief, where she had seven strikeouts, retired the side in the bottom of the inning to send the Hoosiers to victory. Six different Hoosiers had hits on the afternoon. Bassett and Stone each recorded RBI in the win. The Hoosiers have now beaten Louisville three times this season, once in the regular season and twice in the Knoxville regional. Johnson improved to 16-6 on the year in her five innings of relief. She struck out seven and did not give up a hit or a run.
Indiana fell, 9-1, in five innings against No. 4 Tennessee in game two of the NCAA Knoxville Regional at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on Saturday. Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Year Taryn Kern hit a solo shot to centerfield in the top of the first to put the Hoosiers on the scoreboard early. Tennessee responded in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of home runs to take a 3-1 lead. The Lady Vols tacked on two more in the bottom of the second on a Kiki Milloy 2-run home run. The Hoosiers would load the bases in the top of the third, but rain would send the game into a five-hour delay. Resuming at 7:14pm Tennessee would end the inning on a strikeout. A short rain delay ensued in the bottom of the fourth as the Hoosiers went three up, three down in their half of the frame. Tennessee tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the fourth and retired the side in the top of the fifth to issue the run-rule. Kern tied the Big Ten record for most home runs by a freshman with 23.
Indiana hit three home runs and had 10 total hits as it advanced to the winner’s bracket in a 4-3 victory over Louisville on Friday in the first game of the NCAA Regional. Louisville and Indiana each struck in the first, as the Cardinal took the early lead on the first batter of the game with a single shot to center field. For the Hoosiers, Taryn Kern reached base on a hit by pitch, while sophomore outfielder Taylor Minnick advanced her to second on a single up the left side. Sophomore utility Sarah Stone collected her first RBI of the day on a single to left center to give her team a 2-1 lead. Stone and Briana Copeland went back-to-back for solo home runs in the bottom of the third to increase Indiana’s lead, 4-1. The Hoosiers had hits in the fourth and as neither team got runs across the plate. Louisville made a final push in the sixth and seventh innings with a homer to start off the top of the sixth. After the Cardinal sent another shot to right field to make it a 4-3 game in the seventh, junior pitcher Macy Montgomery came in for relief as she retired the next two batters. Copeland went yard for the 14th time this season while earning her 22nd win inside the circle. She tallied five strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched against the Cards. Montgomery earned her first save of the year in her 28th appearance on the mound. Stone and Benson led the team offensively going 2-for-3 at bat combining for three RBI. Stone hit her 11th long ball of the season to leadoff the third inning. The Hoosiers outhit the cards 10-7.
Grace Berger scores for the Indiana Fever in a loss to the New York Liberty
The Indiana Fever fell in its first road game of the season to the New York Liberty on Sunday at Barclays Center, 90-73. Former Indiana University Women’s Basketball Star Grace Berger played 3 minutes scoring 2 points on 1-2 shooting from the field and adding a block, an assist and a steal in her first game action as a member of the Indiana Fever. Berger did not play in the season opening loss to the Connecticut Sun last Friday Night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The New York Liberty (1-1) opened the game on a quick note, going 6-of-8 from the field and took an early 15-4 lead within the first three minutes of play. The Liberty maintained control throughout the quarter and continued to extend its lead, ending the quarter up 36-14. Fever forward NaLyssa Smith began to find her groove throughout the second quarter as she contributed nine points and pulled down seven rebounds to aid Indiana in closing the deficit. Smith finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds on the night for her ninth double-double of her career and first double-double of the 2023 season.
Indiana (0-2) came out of the locker room and scored a quick 15 points in the first four minutes of the half. Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Kristy Wallace found their own rhythm to start off the half, as Mitchell went 3-of-3 from the floor and Wallace contributed five of her 11 points in the third quarter. Despite allowing the Liberty to score only five points in the fourth quarter, which ties the third-fewest points given up by the Fever in a quarter, the deficit was too much to overcome for Indiana. Mitchell finished the game with 10 points and team-high three assists. Fever center Aliyah Boston contributed 15 points of her own for the second consecutive game to begin her WNBA career while shooting 5-of-7 from the floor.
For the Liberty, forward Breanna Stewart stole the show as she recorded a career-high and New York Liberty franchise record 45 points in her home debut with the team. Stewart also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds. Liberty starting guard Sabrina Ionescu added nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Jonquel Jones had 14 points in her home debut with the Liberty as well. Veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot rounded out the newest group of new Liberty additions with 11 points and eight assists. The Fever return to action on Sunday at the Atlanta Dream. Sunday’s 3pm tip will broadcast on the official Indiana Fever Facebook page.
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