On nights when nothing else is going right, IU turns to 3-point shooting.
With a lack of size in the post, the Hoosiers are forced to rely on playing in transition and perimeter shooting. They took a 36 percent 3-point percentage into Sunday’s game against Rutgers.
But against a bigger, stronger, faster team, not even that was going right.
IU shot just 6-of-23 from beyond the arc en route to a 66-51 loss to No. 17 Rutgers on Sunday at Assembly Hall.
“I think that was a big thing for us tonight, shots weren’t falling,” sophomore guard Larryn Brooks said. “We kept saying, ‘they’re gonna fall, they’re gonna fall.’ Sometimes we’re going to have nights like that.”
IU Coach Teri Moren told her team at halftime to keep shooting. That’s what her team has thrived on, and with such a poor percentage in the first half she thought shots would start to fall in the second.
When they didn’t, IU was forced to drive into a much bigger, stronger Rutgers defense. Moren commended Brooks’ ability to drive and kick to her teammates, but the Hoosiers finished 15-of-50 shooting from the field, just 30 percent.
“We shoot it better than we did today. They just weren’t falling,” Moren said. “We’ll probably go through a few periods of time when it’s hard to find our shot.”
When those shots aren’t falling, Brooks said, they have to improve on the defensive end. The Hoosiers went to the 2-3 zone against the Scarlet Knights, something Moren said they’ll do more often throughout Big Ten season.
Through the first 20 minutes of play, that zone held Rutgers to 13-of-35 shooting, 0-of-2 from beyond the arc. IU went into halftime down by just four points.
The second half was a different story.
The Scarlet Knights went on a 13-5 run to open the second half, and IU couldn’t dig itself out of the hole.
“They started hitting shots,” freshman guard Tyra Buss said. “They got on a run, and we kind of got ourselves in a rut there at the very beginning of the second half.”
Buss and fellow freshman Amanda Cahill were seeing Big Ten play for the first time. With three sophomore and two freshmen starters, Moren said the speed and athleticism of Big Ten teams is something they’ll have to adjust to with more experience.
IU finished the non-conference schedule with a 10-1 record but had yet to face a team with the strength and physicality of Rutgers.
Rutgers' 6-foot-4 forward Rachel Hollivay caused problems down low on defense, and IU had no answer for senior Betnijah Laney, who recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Rutgers has out-rebounded every one of its opponents this season. Buss said containing that, and work on the defense end, was a focus in the practice this past week.
“Defensively, we knew it was going to be a challenge on the boards,” Moren said. “The key on the boards wasn’t to control it but to try to keep it as even or close as we could.”
Rutgers won the rebounding battle 45-33 and forced 21 IU turnovers. But that level of play, as opposed to what they saw early on in the season, is exactly what IU will face the rest of the way, Buss said.
“We knew they were bigger and stronger than what we were going to be,” Buss said. “It’ll get us ready for other Big Ten teams. It was a good test for the first time.”
