No. 13 IU women’s basketball will head back to Bloomington with a lot of “what ifs” after a 72-68 loss against No. 11 University of Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum on Sunday night.
IU controlled the first half, but head coach Teri Moren said there was not enough stability in the Hoosiers' game.
“We were not consistent enough,” Moren said. “We need to be aggressive for 40 minutes, and we didn't do that.”
The Hoosiers started the game off strong, ending the first quarter on a 12-0 run following five turnovers from the Wildcats. Kentucky’s star junior guard Rhyne Howard ran into foul trouble early in the quarter, but IU wasn’t able to take full advantage as senior guards Ali Patberg and Jaelynn Penn shortly followed suit getting into foul trouble of their own.
While all three guards faced had to be mindful of their fouls for the remainder of the game, they continued playing for significant minutes for both teams.
“You lean on your wisdom of trusting your kids,” Moren said about keeping Patberg and Penn in. “Ali, she is somebody who knows she has to be on the floor for us. Jaelynn, the same thing. I give them credit for being able to not foul out. That was the challenge, to stay in the game.”
The Hoosiers carried the momentum into the second quarter with Penn scoring a team high of 11 points, and junior forward Aleksa Gulbe grabbed a team high of eight rebounds in the first half. The Hoosiers led 36-23 going into halftime.
In the second half, IU’s struggles came to the forefront while Kentucky slowly chipped away at the lead, slowly building momentum and finding the energy they seemingly lacked in the first half.
The fourth quarter began instantly with both Howard and Patberg picking up their fourth personal fouls. Soon after, junior guard Danielle Patterson was called for a charge, turning the ball over to the Wildcats who proceeded to cut IU’s lead to six points.
Down the stretch, the Hoosiers lost their offensive touch, unable to make a shot as Kentucky closed out the last six minutes on a 17-2 run.
With less than two minutes left, IU was called for a five-second violation on the inbounds, giving the ball back to Kentucky.
“[It was a] huge momentum turner,” Moren said. "It gave them life. It gave them energy. It gave them momentum. I am disappointed and by all accounts that is inexcusable to not be able to get the ball in.”
Following the turnover, the Wildcats took the lead after Berger fouled Kentucky sophomore forward Dre’una Edwards, sending her to the free-throw line where she sunk both shots.
The Hoosiers were never able to recover as Berger later fouled out with four seconds remaining, allowing the Wildcats to seal the win with two final free throws.
“As much as I wanted to come out and play sound and solid for 40 [minutes] tonight, that just did not happen,” Moren said. “We struggled from the outside. I am very disappointed in us defensively in the second half because that is not who we are.”
