A few weeks ago, the Hoosiers went to the west coast to play in the Hilton Concord Classic in Moraga, California. The team split the classic, with a win over University of Alabama at Birmingham and a loss to Saint Mary’s College.
This past weekend, IU went to the east coast to play in the West Palm Invitational in West Palm Beach, Florida, for its second two-game tournament.
Despite the pleasant location, the Hoosiers dropped both games, lowering their record to 6-6 on the season.
The first loss came against No. 16 Missouri, who was IU’s second top 25 opponent on the season.
Before the game, IU Coach Teri Moren said everything she saw from the Tigers impressed her, whether it be their rebounding, defense or passing.
All aspects that Moren liked from Mizzou were on display in this contest.
The Tigers shot 71-percent from the field, forced 16 IU turnovers and got 16 second-chance points compared to IU’s three.
“They are really good, and you have to be clicking on all cylinders and that’s offensively and defensively,” Moren said in an IU Athletics press release. “They torched us in the third quarter. We didn’t have an answer for them defensively.”
That third quarter the Hoosiers got outscored 28-14 after trailing by just seven at halftime.
The next day, IU looked to avoid the second half massacre against Virginia when it trailed by only two.
The Hoosiers did just that as they outscored the Cavaliers by one in the third to go into the fourth down 48-47.
They began the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run. UVA didn’t let it get any more than that, however, as they regained a 63-62 lead with 1:20 left.
The next play, senior guard Tyra Buss was able to get into the paint and lay the ball up to go up 64-63, forcing a Virginia timeout.
The Cavaliers scored out the timeout, going up one, and Buss got called for a charge on the next play, giving UVA the ball with 32 seconds left.
When all seemed lost, freshman guard Bendu Yeaney stole the inbounds pass and got it to Buss, who proceeded to attack the rim and get fouled.
Buss made just one of two, tying the game, and UVA couldn’t hit a game-winner, sending the game into overtime
It was the first overtime game of the year for the Hoosiers, and it didn’t go as planned.
Virginia outscored IU 17-7 and took the contest 82-72.
Like the Missouri game, IU’s height and depth were an issue. The Cavaliers got 14 second chance points to IU’s 3, and outscored the Hoosiers 40-6 in bench points.
The two seniors led the way for IU in both games this invite. Buss totaled 42 points in both games and forward Amanda Cahill scored 35.
These games allowed Buss to move to fourth on the all-time IU scoring list with 1,852 career points, just now 13 short of third.
Cahill, on the other hand, moved to fourth on the all-time IU rebounding list with 925 career boards.
The seniors will look to continue their impressive run on Dec. 21 against Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. That will be the last non-conference game for the Hoosiers.
