IU has learned how hard it is to compete in the Big Ten.
After opening the season with a 10-1 non-conference record, IU Coach Teri Moren has seen her young team struggle against bigger, more athletic, more experienced opponents.
It’s included losses of 17, 19 and 22 points, a four-game losing streak and a 0-4 record in games decided by six points or less.
But no game was more lopsided than a 103-49 loss to Ohio State at Assembly Hall on Jan. 8.
On Sunday afternoon, the Hoosiers get a second chance against the Buckeyes at 2 p.m. in Columbus, where IU hasn’t won since the 2001-02 season. In the teams’ 42-year history, the Hoosiers have won just four times at Value City Arena.
Following the first matchup, Moren said she couldn’t find one bright spot on the stat sheet, while Ohio State’s was full of them.
“In every facet, they weren’t just good,” she said, “they were great tonight.”
At halftime of that game, the Hoosiers trailed 49-17. Moren knew winning was unlikely, but she told her team at the break to go into the second half as if the score was 0-0. She was looking for a silver lining.
In the final 20 minutes, she saw spurts of good things, Moren said. Freshman guard Jess Walter led the Hoosiers with 14 points, all in the second half, on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
But Ohio State star duo Kelsey Mitchell and Ameryst Alston were too much for IU. The two combined for 29 points in the first half alone. Five Buckeye players finished in double digits, led by Alston with 27 points and Mitchell with 25.
The Hoosiers have lost five of their seven games since then.
After falling 75-69 to Northwestern on Thursday, Moren mentioned some of the same problems she saw weeks ago.
“I’m disappointed in how we came out, especially on the defensive end,” she said. “I just thought that our effort was not what it needed to be. Our desire to keep people in front of us and contain the dribble was difficult.”
Moren took some of the blame after the loss to Ohio State for not preparing her team to handle the Buckeyes’ 2-2-1 full court zone pressure.
After Northwestern, Moren did the same, admitting she needed to do a better job of “teaching them the game," so they recognize mismatches and can take advantage of opportunities offensively.
“I have to find a different way to teach them because what we’re doing is not working,” Moren said. “They’re not understanding.”
Ohio State is coming off a 73-65 loss to Iowa, which ended a four-game win streak. The Buckeyes, led by Mitchell (25.5 ppg) and Alston (20.2 ppg), are seventh in the country in scoring offense with 80.3 points per game.
They’ve won 18 of the last 20 meetings, including the last seven in the series.
Sunday’s game will be broadcast on BTN Plus and can be heard on IUHoosiers.com.
