Jennings, Buss have similar styles

IOWA CITY - Whitney Jennings is the former Miss Indiana Basketball who now starts for the University of Iowa.

Tyra Buss is the former Ms. Illinois Basketball who now starts at Indiana.

Both are freshmen, blonde, short by Division-I standards. And both put up a pile of points in high school.

'A lot of people have said we're similar style players,” Jennings said. 'We're both smaller guards. I've never played against her, but she's obviously a phenomenal player.”

The Jennings-Buss matchup is a subplot when 13th-ranked Iowa (20-4 overall, 11-2 Big Ten) hosts Indiana (14-10, 4-9) at 5 p.m. Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Buss' high-school resume boggles the mind. She finished her career at Mount Carmel (Ill.) with 4,897 points, third most in national history. She averaged 38.0 points per game throughout her career, including 45.8 as a senior.

'I didn't know how many points she scored,” Jennings said. 'I knew it was a bunch.”

Buss is now the leading scorer at IU at 12.1 points per game.

Jennings had a prolific high school career of her own at Logansport (Ind.), scoring 2,641 points, fifth most in Indiana history. She has made an immediate impact at Iowa with her quickness and defensive ability.

It's her first appearance against the Hoosiers.

'I'm excited to get to play my home state,” she said.

Sunday's game marks the second leg of a rough three-game, six-day schedule. The Hawkeyes rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 20 Nebraska, 69-61, on Thursday.

Kali Peschel scored all 13 of her points in the second half as Iowa completed a season sweep of the Huskers.

Iowa has five games left, including three at home, where it is undefeated this year.

'Winning our three home games is essential in terms of getting a top-four seed (for the NCAA tournament),” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. 'I don't think we have to win all of our road games, but (winning four of our last five) would get us a second place in the Big Ten.”

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