No. 16 IU women’s basketball was able to come back against Michigan State on its way to a 79-67 win Sunday, but it wouldn’t have been there without its bench.
Slow starts have been a frequent fault by the Hoosiers this season, and on Sunday, IU fell behind early 16-6 with practically no answer for Michigan State on either end of the floor.
Its first two substitutions, however, were ready to step in and make a difference.
Senior guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and freshman forward Kiandra Browne checked into the game in the first quarter and got the Hoosiers back in shape offensively and defensively, respectively, before they could get into a winning position down the stretch.
“Our bench was really good tonight,” head coach Teri Moren said. “I was really pleased with the help our starters got from those guys off the bench tonight.”
Browne was the first Hoosier substitution of the game, earning 11 minutes of playing time off the bench. The Canadian freshman scored 2 points on her only shot of the afternoon but mostly made her presence felt on defense.
After Michigan State started the game on its shooting barrage, Browne came in to help the defense get some much needed stops and make the Spartans work to create scoring chances.
“Just a selfless young lady that wants to help her team in any way she can,” Moren said of Browne. “She has a really high IQ. She’s always doing something. She’s always active. For a freshman, she’s been very impressive.”
Browne acted as a defensive anchor for IU, constantly communicating with her four teammates and calling out Michigan State’s offensive looks.
She not only made it hard on the Spartans to work the ball in toward the basket, but also wasn’t afraid to get on the floor and draw a foul. Browne took two charges in the first quarter as the Hoosiers chipped away at the early deficit, and her fiery, emotional reactions put a jolt in the bench.
“Energy is contagious,” senior guard Ali Patberg said of Browne’s presence. “She comes in and takes two charges. She’s just a great player, but she’s an even better teammate. ”
Cardaño-Hillary was equally productive off the bench, just on the offensive end of the floor.
The senior didn’t play well in Thursday’s loss to Ohio State, shooting 0-for-3 from 3-point territory and 0-for-4 from the free throw line. Moren said she was anticipating a different type of effort out of Cardaño-Hillary, and the Spanish guard didn’t disappoint.
“I was pretty eager to see how she was going to respond and bounce back,” Moren said of Cardaño-Hillary. “I was really, really happy for her and impressed with her maturity.”
With Cardaño-Hillary in at guard, IU’s offense was moving faster and wasting less time with the ball. She scored a layup on her first possession in the game and refound her touch from behind the arc with a 3-pointer banked in off the glass.
Cardaño-Hillary tallied an efficient 7 points in just 11 minutes of work and somehow managed a game-high plus-minus of 17.
“When you have your starters being able to score and there’s balance there, and then you have help from your bench because you can rest some of those guys, that’s a big thing.” Moren said.
