IU women’s basketball hit the road for the first time in three games to play at Northern Kentucky on Saturday night.
Last season, the Hoosiers beat the Norse 100-49 at home. On paper, it looked as if they would be able to do so again this season.
However, it took the Hoosiers nearly 30 minutes to take control of the game against the Norse, a team that starts three freshman, one sophomore and its one and only senior.
Entering the fourth quarter with only a five-point advantage, IU began the first two minutes of the period with a quick 8-0 run to give the Hoosiers their then-biggest lead of the game at 13 points.
From there, the Hoosiers then got a 16-point lead, which was their largest of the game, thanks to getting baskets in transition.
NKU turned the ball over 16 times in the game, which IU was able to turn into 22 points.
The final five minutes were long and tedious, and the Norse got within single digits just twice in that timespan, showing no sign of making a real comeback.
“Our pressure kind of overwhelmed them late in the game,” IU assistant coach Glenn Box said in a postgame interview with WHCC 105.1.
Although IU came away with the 67-56 win, Box called the team’s performance disappointing.
Other than the first two games of the season, this was IU’s biggest win margin of 2017.
The youth and depth of the IU team plays a big part in IU's lack of blowout wins. The Hoosiers start two freshmen and get outscored often in bench points, but it hasn’t changed the expectations of the coaching staff or the team.
This was the case the last time out for IU as well against North Texas. IU defeated the Mean Green, 94-64, last season, but needed late game heroics by senior guard Tyra Buss to secure the 68-63 this time around.
There weren’t many positive takeaways from this game, but the fourth quarter provided flashes of how IU can play against teams like these.
