Missed free throws hurt IU in loss

So close, yet so far.

For the IU women’s basketball team, 14 missed free throws was the difference in a 58-52 loss to Northwestern.

IU Coach Curt Miller did not mince words when describing how he felt about his team’s performance.

“(I) started coaching in 1986 with a seventh and eighth grade team,” Miller said. “You probably know how I feel how we compare.”

The charity stripe was not the only source of the Hoosiers’ struggles.

The Hoosiers shot 21-of-70 from the field and 6-of-20 from the free throw line. They were even worse from 3-point range, shooting 4-of-27.

“I’m not sure we made one contested tough shot all night,” Miller said. “Not one.”
Miller also said he thought the team had poor shot selection, but when it executed, it had seven assists on 12 baskets in the first half.

“They were literally wide-open layups,” he said.

The Hoosiers received a lucky break early in the first half.

Northwestern freshman guard Nia Coffey, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, sustained an injury with 13 minutes and three seconds remaining in that half.

IU briefly took advantage of her absence. The Hoosiers went on a 5-0 run that ended when sophomore guard Maggie Lyon hit two free throws to tie the game for Northwestern.

Miller said his team did not take full advantage of the opportunity it had.

“When one of the clearly elite players in the entire league gets injured, we didn’t have a killer instinct that tonight was our night,” he said.

Leading by one at the beginning of the second half, the Hoosiers forced two turnovers on the Wildcats’ first two possessions of the second half.

The turnovers led to four points and extended the lead to the Hoosiers’ largest of the game of five points.

Northwestern responded with a 14-7 run.

A key play within the run was when junior forward Alex Cohen tied the game at 39 after drawing contact on a made layup with 10 minutes and 25 seconds remaining.
 
After freshman guard Taylor Agler split a pair of free throws, IU went two minutes and 35 seconds without making a field goal.

A floater by freshman guard Larryn Brooks with the shot clock winding down broke the scoreless streak.

Freshman forward Lyndsay Leikem led the Hoosiers with 18 points, including 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range off the bench. The Tucson, Ariz. native was one of 12 IU players who saw playing time Thursday night.

“She played well,” Miller said. “She was the one kid that was kind of fearless and let the ball go from the 3-point line.”

Senior center Simone Deloach missed a pair of free throws with two minutes and 23 seconds remaining that would’ve given the Hoosiers another chance to tie the game.

Sophomore guard Maggie Lyon scored six of the Wildcats’ nine points in the final three minutes.

Deloach said shots that normally fall for the Hoosiers didn’t fall Thursday night.

“I think it’s a matter of coming back and getting back in the gym and just shooting and getting ready for Illinois,” she said.

Follow reporter Stuart Jackson on Twitter @Stuart_Jackson1