With the shot clock running down, Larryn Brooks caught a pass from teammate Karlee McBride on the left wing. She took a second to collect herself, and with no one guarding her, connected on her third 3-pointer of the night.
There were just five seconds remaining in the game. The shot sealed a 72-55 win against Purdue at Assembly Hall.
And it was the culmination of a night where the Hoosiers shot the best they have since Dec. 20, 2014 — during the non-conference season.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak.
“These past few games when we have lost, the effort hasn’t been there but we also haven’t been hitting shots,” Brooks said. “So that really did boost our confidence, and it always makes the effort get raised even higher.”
IU Coach Teri Moren has said repeatedly that when her team plays poorly it often stems from poor shooting — when they aren’t hitting shots early, they don’t play well defensively.
Monday night, the shots were falling, and it meant a renewed confidence for Moren’s young players.
“This is a team that rides the highs of being able to hit shots,” Moren said. “Defensively we were better, we talked better, our sense of urgency was greater. With them to come back in Assembly tonight and play with that toughness that we’ve been searching for I think is a really good step in the right direction for our young basketball team.”
IU opened the game on a 7-0 run, including back-to-back shots by freshman forward Amanda Cahill. Sophomore guard Alexis Gassion shot 3-of-4 from the field, with two 3-pointers, in the first half alone.
The Hoosiers rode a 48-percent first-half field goal percentage to a 39-17 halftime lead.
Brooks scored a game-high 22 points, which Moren said was especially important for the confidence of her point guard.
Moren said rather than seeing spurts of Brooks’ “attack mode,” Brooks showed that consistently all night.
“We’ve been asking her to play with less concern, less worry,” Moren said. “I thought Larryn Brooks looked like Larryn Brooks, kind of fearless out there tonight.”
During a stretch of games when they weren’t hitting shots, the Hoosiers had to resort to getting the ball inside and drives to the basket.
Against Purdue, they found a balance of the two.
IU made 50 percent (7-of-14) of its 3-point attempts, but added 37 points in the paint and at the free throw line combined. Brooks was 9-of-10 from the line.
The shooting success gives her team confidence, Moren said, but not as much as a win does.
“I always have a lot of respect for (Purdue Coach Sharon Versyp) and that program, the tradition that’s there,” Moren said. “It’s my job now to build that here.
“This is a huge win, yeah, but this hopefully is going to help us down the road in Big Ten play. It feels good.”
