No. 15 IU women’s basketball hadn’t played in 11 days entering its matchup Thursday with the University of Tennessee, but the Hoosier offense made it seem like it had been even longer since their last game.
Tennessee deployed some big and physical lineups that disrupted IU’s offensive flow from the start, forcing them to play from behind the majority of the game. The Hoosiers climbed back into contention later in the second half before falling short of the comeback win, suffering their second loss of the season 66-58.
“I thought we looked like we were sort of in cement from the jump,” IU head coach Teri Moren said. “We had no rhythm and we had no real pace. Tennessee made us pay.”
The offensive struggle for IU began in its 9-point first quarter and carried over into the second frame. The Volunteers imposed their length and size to cause spacing problems for the Hoosiers, who made just four of their first 18 shot attempts from the field.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle for IU was finding its rhythm from behind the arc. It took 14 3-point tries for the Hoosiers to make their first of the game, and they finished 2-for-27 from deep.
What makes that figure even more frustrating for IU is that a lot of their misses came from open, uncontested looks.
“That’s probably too many 3s that we should be taking, especially on a night they’re not going down,” Moren said. “Going into Big Ten play we’re probably going to see more zone. People are going to test us and challenge us to hit open shots from beyond the arc.”
As obvious as the team’s outside shooting woes were, the Hoosiers played even less characteristically near the basket.
A handful of missed layups loomed large as Tennessee’s second-half lead shrunk, and IU’s frontcourt had difficulty finishing through contact. Sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes and junior forward Aleksa Gulbe are typically a dangerous duo down low the Hoosiers can rely on for scoring, but they combined for just five made field goals Thursday.
“It’s a rare occasion for Mackenzie only to score one bucket,” Moren said. “I thought (Gulbe) got a lot of open looks. I thought the last two 3s that she took unfortunately were wide open but she hesitated.”
The Hoosiers erased a 16-point deficit and were within one point of the Lady Volunteers in the fourth quarter, but IU couldn’t capitalize on the multiple chances it had to tie or take the lead late in the game. Tennessee ended a near four-minute scoring drought in the closing minutes before pulling away with the 8-point win.
“You’ve gotta be able to get stops and then you’ve gotta be able to manufacture points,” Moren said. “We were getting the stops down the stretch, there’s no doubt about it, it’s just we couldn’t find the bucket tonight.”
