After fending off a pesky IPFW team on Tuesday night, the Hoosiers were focused on finishing strong against an Ohio team that was picked to win the Mid-American Conference.
Despite holding the Bobcats — a team that relies on the 3-pointer — to just 9-of-33 shooting from beyond the arc, IU’s offense went cold in the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers were held scoreless in the final three minutes of the game, falling to Ohio, 63-56, on Friday night at the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.
A pair of free throws from sophomore guard Tyra Buss gave the Hoosiers a 56-55 lead with 3:02 to play. However, IU missed its next six shots to finish the game. Ohio converted on all six free throws to seal the win.
“I thought we missed a lot of bunnies (easy shots) at the basket down the stretch,” IU coach Teri Moren said. “We regained the lead and couldn't get the stops we needed. We also didn't take advantage of some high-percentage shots that didn’t go down for us. I’m disappointed, but we’ve got to figure out why it is we aren’t guarding better. We’ve got to get back to our philosophy and system of getting stops on the defensive end.”
The Hoosiers struggled on offense throughout the entire game, shooting a season-low 29 percent from the field and 4-of-20 from 3-point range. Buss, as well as sophomore forward Amanda Cahill, each scored a team-high 14 points. Buss was held in check after pouring in a career-high 29 points against IPFW, shooting just 3-of-16 from the floor against the Bobcats.
Freshman forward Kym Royster scored 11 points in the losing effort, an early career-high for the 6-foot-2 Ohio-native. In the fourth quarter, though, Royster was 0-of-3 from the floor and missed a pair of crucial layups in the final few minutes.
“Take away those two layups that she missed, then we’re probably saying how she had a good game,” Moren said. “Those misses came at critical moments down the stretch. No one will be more frustrated than Kym, it was a bad time to miss two layups. Prior to that, she had been really steady around the bucket. She’ll learn from it, grow, and earn minutes for us.”
The Hoosiers led the Bobcats at halftime, 32-29, as Buss and Cahill combined for 17 points and seven rebounds. The Bobcats’ leading scorer, 5-foot-5 guard Kiyanna Black, picked up her third foul before the half. Black was able to contribute for Ohio in the second half, however, finishing with a game-high 17 points. Junior forward Jasmine Weatherspoon torched the Hoosiers for 12 points and 11 rebounds down low.
IU will face Austin Peay on Saturday in the consolation game of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament in Nashville, before returning to Bloomington to play Georgia Tech at home Wednesday night. Although it might be troublesome for the Hoosiers to have a quick turnaround after a tough loss, Moren is anxious to play in less than 24 hours.
“We’re going to watch this film, fix our issues in the Ohio loss and come back tomorrow,” Moren said. “This is what big-time basketball is, sometimes you don't have two or three days to bounce back. We’re really anxious to get back to the floor and compete for 40 minutes.”
