No. 16 IU women’s basketball looked like it would break an 11-year losing streak to No. 14 Ohio State with an early 11-0 lead, but ultimately it picked up its 15th straight loss on Thursday night.
The Hoosiers took advantage of the Buckeyes' grogginess in the first quarter, but were quickly reminded why they had lost 14 straight games to the Buckeyes.
“Unfortunately we just continue to still struggle from beyond the arc,” head coach Teri Moren said. “Then tonight on top of that we struggled from the free-throw line, and we turned the ball over way more than we have been doing. I think all of those things are a recipe for a loss especially against a team that has so many weapons.”
Seven uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half for the Hoosiers, who average 10 per game, blew the early lead, and once Ohio State senior guard Braxtin Miller heated up, she was hard to stop.
It was back and forth from there with the lead changing nine times. Fourth quarter scoring droughts, going 0-5 from the 3-point line and adding five more turnovers for a total of 17 for IU allowed Ohio State to pull away and take the 78-70 win.
“I think they were just collapsing on us,” junior guard Grace Berger said about Ohio State’s defensive game. “We didn’t do a good job of handling that obviously. Seventeen turnovers is way too much. I mean give credit to them for good defense, but we have got to figure that out.”
Despite a stinging loss, Berger and sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes kept the Hoosiers in contention during the entirety of the game when their teammates weren’t able to get the job done.
“Both of them were obviously terrific, but two kids can’t beat a team like Ohio State,” Moren said. “They did their jobs. I thought that both Mack and Grace offensively did what they needed
to do to keep it close. They just didn’t have a lot of help tonight from their supporting cast.”
Despite lack of support, both Holmes and Berger reached double-doubles by the end of the matchup. Berger led IU with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Holmes contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Without these two key players for the Hoosiers, Miller’s 25 points and junior forward Dorka Juhász’s 19 points would have guaranteed the game for the Buckeyes much earlier on.
However, without senior guards Ali Patberg and Jaelynn Penn putting up strong performances alongside both Berger and Holmes, IU couldn’t seal the deal.
Patberg, who averages 12 points per game, only added 9 points to IU’s scoreboard, and Penn put up only 6 points. Moren said in order to have beaten the Buckeyes, the veterans needed to be better.
“I can tell you we are sorely disappointed,” Moren said. “This is probably one of the most disappointing losses that we have had here in my ten years at Indiana.”
