IN BRIEF : Hoosiers’ Edwards Denies Battery

Former Indiana University basketball star Jay Edwards entered a preliminary plea of innocent today to charges he slapped and hit an Indianapolis woman in a Bloomington apartment.

Madison Superior Court Judge Douglas Bridges set a pretrial hearing date of May 23 for Edwards, charged Monday with two counts of misdemeanor battery.

Beth Ann Irish, 20, of Indianapolis told Bloomington police that Edwards slapped her twice and punched her at a party Saturday night at Jackson Heights apartments. A doctor’s report said Irish suffered a bruised forehead. Edwards admitted slapping Irish once but said she had rushed him.