Indiana women’s basketball improved to 2-2 after its 79-66 victory over No. 24 Stanford University at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil led the Hoosiers’ scoring with 21 points. Junior guards Shay Ciezki and Yarden Garzon also scored in double figures for the Hoosiers with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
After Stanford won the tipoff, the two teams went back and forth to begin the contest. A 3-pointer late in the first quarter by Moore-McNeil tied the Hoosiers and the Cardinal at 22, and Indiana did not look back after a layup by Garzon gave it the lead heading into the second quarter.
Moore-McNeil scored 10 points in the first, which included two 3-pointers, and recorded two steals. The Hoosiers scored 24 points in the first quarter, making their highest-scoring quarter this season.
Indiana’s defense held Stanford to 9 points in the second quarter after giving up 22 points in the first quarter. Stanford scored only two of its six 3-point attempts in the first half after entering the matchup shooting 51% from beyond the arc. Indiana held an 11-point lead at halftime.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Garzon forced a Stanford timeout and put the Hoosiers 15 points ahead of the Cardinal with just over three and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter.
While Stanford outscored Indiana 22-18 in the fourth quarter, Indiana claimed its second victory. Indiana shot 49% from the field and 47% from 3-point range.
While junior guard Lexus Bargesser did not play for Indiana, she showed signs of returning soon during pregame warmups. Bargesser has been dealing with a foot injury during the first four games of the season but was without a boot and crutches Sunday and warmed up with the team for the first time this season.
Indiana will continue its season at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. In the first round, the Hoosiers will play Columbia University at 4 p.m. Nov. 23 in Nassau, Bahamas, and will stream on FloHoops.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
