No. 12 IU women’s basketball couldn’t have scripted a worse start to its game Sunday against Youngstown State University.
Shooting just 18% in the first quarter, IU looked asleep at the wheel for the first roughly 12 minutes of the game. However, a second quarter rally put the Hoosiers in front for good, ultimately winning in a blowout 93-56.
“It was a tale of two halves for sure today,” IU women’s head coach Teri Moren said. “We were sleepwalking in the first half. You were able to see a different team in the second half.”
Junior guard Jaelyn Penn scored 17, including 14 of IU’s 27 in the second quarter, while junior guard Ali Patberg added 18 and senior forward Brenna Wise dropped 15.
In the second half, IU let the defense do the talking, holding Youngstown State to 18 points in the half.
“We pride ourselves on the defensive end,” Patberg said. “Once we make stops defensively that sparks our offense, and we weren’t doing that in the first half.”
The brutal first quarter saw IU hit two 3-pointers the entire quarter while YSU forced six turnovers.
Were it not for the Hoosiers going 8-10 at the free throw line, the deficit could’ve been much worse than the 15-14 hole they found themselves in.
The second quarter didn’t start much more favorably for the Hoosiers, as the Penguins surged to a 22-16 lead, prompting Moren to call timeout at 7:59 in the second quarter.
The timeout seemed to spark something in IU, as it outscored YSU 25-15 the rest of the quarter following the completion of a three point play. The Hoosiers complete 180 featured them going 10-15 from the floor and 5-10 from beyond the arc.
“We just felt like we were getting open looks, but they weren’t going down for us,” Moren said. “In those timeouts, you always talk to your team about how those shots are gonna fall.”
Penn’s 14 points and Wise’s eight on a combined 4-5 from three paced the Hoosiers in the second. Leading 41-38 at the half, the Hoosiers went to work on their defense, and it paid dividends.
“Over on the sideline, more of our discussion was defensively,” Moren said. “This is a team that clearly has nothing to lose, and they’re going to take some unsolicited shots.”
The third and fourth quarters saw the Hoosiers run over the Penguins, outscoring them 52-18 in the final 20 minutes of play. IU opened up the third on a 14-2 run to create a 15-point lead, and the margin only expanded from there.
“I felt like we changed our mentality, our aggression, even our body language,” Patberg said.
Patberg played catalyst for the offense, taking more open looks and rewarding herself to the tune of 15 second half points.
“We will need more of Ali Patberg being super confident, super aggressive offensively,” Moren said.
In total, 11 of 12 Hoosiers worked their way into the scoring column, and more impressively the Hoosiers picked up 22 assists on 34 shots, while shooting 61% for the game.
Let that last stat sink in, IU started the game shooting 18%. The team shot 72% the rest of the way.
It was another ugly start for the Hoosiers, something that has plagued them in their last three or four games. But unlike those last few poor starts, the Hoosiers emphatically shut the door on the Penguins.
