INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana women’s basketball’s loss to Butler University unfolded with a story all too familiar to the Hoosiers’ first two games of the season: turnovers, mistakes from veterans and a lack of physicality.
All three contributed to the Hoosiers 46-56 loss to the Bulldogs on Wednesday inside Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as Indiana fell to 1-2 on the season.
Down 6 points with 1:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil made a pass attempt for wide-open junior guard Yarden Garzon. As the ball flew toward Garzon, it just brushed her fingertips and landed out of bounds for an Indiana turnover as they were trying to mount a comeback.
Moore-McNeil’s pass attempt to Garzon was just one of the many Hoosier turnovers off what should have been a simple play, reminiscent of the Hoosiers previous two games against Brown University and Harvard University.
“We’re mature enough and old enough to know better and know how important taking care of the ball is,” head coach Teri Moren said postgame.
While the Hoosiers’ 16 turnovers were less than the 18 and 27 turnovers they racked up in the games against Brown and Harvard, respectively, mistakes on simple fundamental plays became part of the story for Indiana yet again.
Similar to the Hoosiers’ loss to Harvard, experienced veterans did not show up during the crucial minutes. Indiana was down 41-37 heading into the fourth quarter. Moore-McNeil and fellow graduate student guard Sydney Parrish had 0 points for the Hoosiers in the final quarter.
“It starts with Chloe and I,” Parrish said. “We need to lead this team.”
Parrish and Moore-McNeil scored 7 points each. After Parrish’s first 3-pointer to give Indiana its opening points of the game, she struggled to find her shooting rhythm and shot 0 for 6 from the 3-point line — four misses coming in the fourth quarter.
While transfers junior guard Shay Ciezki and senior forward Karoline Striplin are trying to find their way in a new program, they still have experience playing in tough games.
“Yarden, Karoline, Shay — they played three plus years of college basketball in the SEC, the Big Ten, and we’re a veteran group and this should really make us mad,” Parrish said after the loss.
Although Ciezki led the Hoosiers in scoring with 11 points, she also had five of Indiana’s turnovers.
The Hoosiers were also presented with the challenge of the Bulldog’s physical play.
“I think in the past, people have been scared to play us because of how gritty and tough we are and how we’ll knock people on their butts and box people out and push it,” Parrish said. “And I don’t think we saw that tonight.”
Inside, Striplin and junior forward Lilly Meister each scored 4 points and combined for only five rebounds.
“Lilly has to be better. Striplin has to be better. There’s no other way to say it. Those two have to be better for us,” Moren said. “We have to have great balance. We have to have an inside presence.”
Meister and Striplin took a few steps backward from the two games against Brown and Harvard, where Meister scored double digit points in both games and Striplin scored in double figures against Brown.
“Lilly, this was not one of her best games and she knows that,” Moren said. “But Strip has to give us something too when we go to our bench.”
The Hoosiers will be back in action at 2 p.m. Nov. 17 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Their matchup against Stanford University will be broadcast on FS1.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
