It was New Year’s Eve, and the Hoosiers had just defeated then-No. 24 Michigan State. Moren commended her team’s communication.
She had positive words for a slew of players: Jenn Anderson’s 19 points – and her three drawn charges – Tyra Buss’s 15 rebounds, Amanda Cahill’s double-double, with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
After struggling from deep in recent games, the Hoosiers went back to getting more post touches. IU out-rebounded the Big Ten’s best rebounding team by 15.
Midway through the second half, IU’s lead was 27 points. And every player on the court wearing red and white was smiling.
On Wednesday night, IU faced that same Michigan State team.
The result? Anything but the same.
In their first Big Ten rematch of the season, the Hoosiers couldn’t dig themselves out of a 14-point halftime hole in an eventual 72-57 loss to Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich.
“We have to find answers,” Moren said. “We have to quit making excuses and find solutions.”
Prior to Wednesday night’s game, IU was on a 3-game losing skid. Moren said each loss presented its own challenges. But there was one overarching theme: a lack of toughness.
It took No. 23 Minnesota until there were less than three minutes left in the game to throw its first punch. But when they did, IU laid down.
For Penn State, a team sitting at the bottom of the conference standings, the first big run came at the end of the first half. The Hoosiers just took it, Moren said. They accepted it. They liked it.
And they couldn’t respond.
Against No. 7 Maryland, the Hoosiers showed the first glimpse of the grit Moren was looking for. After being down 24, they stood up. Midway through the second half, they made a run to cut the lead to 10. But they ran out of time.
At the beginning of the Big Ten season, Moren called her young team unpredictable. Comparing a 19-point win over the Spartans on Dec. 31 to a 15-point loss showed just that.
Wednesday night didn’t answer any questions. In fact, it presented even more.
“We’re still trying to figure out why both in the Penn State game and now today in East Lansing why were coming out with such a lackluster energy, effort, why we can’t figure out how to compete better on the road,” Moren said. “Part of that I guess is the youth, but we’re tired of using that as an excuse.”
The Hoosiers are now 0-4 on the road in Big Ten play. They haven’t won since beating Wisconsin on Jan. 11 and have dropped six of the last seven.
Over the past four games, the worst stretch of IU’s season, Moren’s post-game words have become more and more familiar.
“It’s another disappointing loss,” Moren said. “It seemed like we got some momentum (in the second half) and then gave it back to them, just with our carelessness.”
