On an afternoon when shots weren’t falling, No. 12 IU women’s basketball needed to hit free throws and secure defensive rebounds. Neither of those happened in its 68-58 loss to No. 10 University of California, Los Angeles. It was also the first loss for IU within the confines of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Sunday’s top-12 showdown featured a Hoosier offense that failed to capitalize on inside shots. Guards and forwards alike missed shot after shot, which kept the Hoosiers out of the game.
IU scored a season-low four points in the first quarter, shooting just 13% from the floor. The program’s shooting struggles continued all game, and it needed to make free throws as UCLA got sloppy down the stretch. But that didn’t happen.
The Hoosiers missed 10 free throws with multiple players missing three or more. No matter how many times they attacked the lane and drew fouls, the Hoosiers could not convert at the charity stripe.
IU’s guards also struggled to put the ball in the basket. Sophomore guard Grace Berger and junior guards Ali Patberg and Jaelynn Penn combined for just 21 points on 26% shooting.
Patberg and Berger tried to get their teammates on the scoreboard late in the first and second half. They found junior guard Bendu Yeaney for a couple of close range shots and created opportunities for their teammates to score.
Penn hit back-to-back threes in the second quarter to push IU on an 8-0 scoring run. It was short lived as UCLA regained composure and took over at the end of the half.
UCLA senior guard Japreece Dean scored most of her points in the first half as she disrupted IU’s offense and created problems for the defense. Dean drove along the baseline and different parts of the key, attracting extra defenders and freeing up her forwards to gain rebounding positioning.
When the ball went up, there were no crimson jerseys near the rim. Bruin sky blue flooded the paint, which allowed them to collect 18 offensive rebounds on the day.
UCLA junior forward Lauryn Miller snagged eight of those offensive boards as IU’s forwards failed to get a body on Miller and UCLA junior forward Michaela Onyenwere.
Onyenwere was strong in the paint with 25 points and 11 rebounds, four of them coming from offensive rebounding. She had easy openings around the low blocks and took advantage of IU’s inability to grab rebounds.
Freshman forward Mackenzie Holmes contended with Onyenwere for rebounds and beat her to the punch a few times. Holmes finished with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds in her effort to keep IU in the game.
Holmes’ efforts weren’t enough to hand the Bruins their first loss of the season.
