In the first half of Thursday’s loss to North Carolina State, IU women’s basketball turned the ball over often. In the second half, the Hoosiers curtailed their miscues, but they still turned it over when it seemed the possessions mattered most.
Add up the two halves, and it’s no surprise that IU lost 84-70 on the road in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. With 17 Hoosier turnovers came only 15 points off turnovers from NC State, but the scoring opportunities missed as a result of their miscues is what hurt IU most.
After the game, IU assistant coach Rhett Wierzba said he feels the team was drawing too much of their energy from the offense. When the offense failed, he said, the Hoosiers got beat on defense.
The Hoosiers had been averaging a little more than 12 turnovers per game entering the game, but with 11 in the first half against NC State, it was clear early on that IU would far surpass their average on Thursday night. The halftime deficit was 46-28, and even though the Hoosiers discovered some more life in the second half, it wasn’t enough.
“We just got down, and then in the second half we maybe got a bit more energy,” Wierzba said. “We’ve got to figure out why we didn’t have that same energy to begin the game, but hopefully we can pick that up and use that as a tool to build on.”
Against Auburn on Sunday, the Hoosiers let a 17-point fourth-quarter lead slip away, largely due to turnovers in a similar fashion to Thursday’s miscues. It was a bit of a reverse scenario for IU against NC State, as they were looking to overcome a large deficit late, but the same problems prevented the win.
Despite cutting the lead to three in the fourth quarter, untimely turnovers allowed NC State to keep IU at bay. With 4:11 left in the game, the Hoosiers trailed by just seven points, and junior forward Amanda Cahill had the ball at the top of the key. After a few dribbles, she made contact with a Wolfpack player down low, and she was called for her fifth foul and IU’s 15th turnover.
With 2:32 remaining, IU was down 11 and needed to play nearly perfect basketball down the stretch, but a turnover from junior guard Tyra Buss allowed NC State to milk the clock to under two minutes.
Four IU starters had multiple turnovers, and although something could be said about IU’s defense being to blame for the loss, the offensive errors certainly didn’t help. Overall, the Hoosiers were unquestionably sharper in the second half, despite the several unfortunate turnovers late.
To Wierzba, the 19-3 run that brought IU close at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter showed plenty of positive signs. He said the coaching staff will be focused on diagnosing the first-half problems that dug such a deep hole for IU.
“It just felt like maybe our focus wasn’t quite as good as it needed to be early,” Wierzba said. “I do think we made some improvements on that, so that’s just some things that have to be fixed going forward.”
