Jess Walter drove down the right side of the lane and, as she went up for the shot, was denied by two Penn State defenders.
Walter fell to the ground.
The referee called it a block. IU Coach Teri Moren thought otherwise. Her reaction led to a technical foul, and two IU assistants had to hold Moren back from the referees to avoid making it anything more.
By that point, IU was down by nine points with less than 13 minutes to play against a team that was at the bottom of the Big Ten with a 0-7 record.
Moren’s anger in that moment paralleled IU’s inability to climb out of a seven-point halftime hole.
The Hoosiers never led in the second half, and Penn State (4-15, 1-7) got its first conference win of the season against IU, 79-75, Thursday night in University Park, Pa.
“These guys were desperate for a win,” Moren said of the Nittany Lions. “It was just a matter of time before they got their first win. We didn’t want it to be against us, but I think you watched a team out there that was sick and tired of losing.”
IU was outrebounded 47-35. Twenty-three of those 47 were on the offensive end for Penn State.
Moren knew going in they’d be significantly under-sized, facing players who stood 6-foot-6, 6-foot-5, 6-foot-4 and five others over the 6-foot mark.
But she also expected more from her team. The problem wasn’t new for them.
“We knew they were going to go inside. There’s no question that we’re going to be undersized, but that’s not going to be an excuse ever for our basketball team,” Moren said. “There’s other ways you can win basketball games. To give up 23 offensive rebounds is just unacceptable.”
When the Hoosiers are hitting shots early and often, Moren says it helps them in every other facet of the game.
That wasn’t the case Thursday night.
IU shot 39 percent from 3-point range. They got to the line for 29 free-throw attempts and made 25 of them.
So blaming it on shooting wasn’t an option for Moren this time around.
“I liked our shot selection throughout the game,” Moren said. “Just probably needed a few more looks at the basket than we got.”
Penn State forced IU into 14 turnovers. It was a back-and-forth game for the majority of the first half. But, Moren said, when the Nittany Lions threw the first punch, her team didn’t ?respond.
They instead accepted it. She said she wants to see more toughness from her young team.
Sophomore guard Alexis Gassion led the Hoosiers with 18 points, including a 16-of-18 effort from the free throw line. She added nine rebounds. Walter scored 14, going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Penn State’s Kaliyah Mitchell had 20 points and 11 rebounds, leading in both categories.
In the days following a loss to Minnesota on Sunday and leading up to Penn State, Moren said she knew the Nittany Lions would get at least one win.
It just wouldn’t be against the Hoosiers.
But, it was.
“I liked our fight toward the end,” Moren said. “But it’s not a 35-minute game, it’s a 40-minute game.”
