It all started with a layup in the paint. And then three more. After she went scoreless in the first quarter, Karoline Striplin turned it on in the second quarter with 8 points on four consecutive layups.
After Indiana women’s basketball was tied at 30 with Penn State at halftime Saturday, Striplin asserted herself in the third quarter.
The senior forward, who transferred to Indiana from the University of Tennessee in April, scored 13 of the Hoosiers’ 19 points in the period as they took a 6-point lead before eventually pulling away to a 75-60 victory over the Lady Lions inside the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania.
“Great win, road win — great way to open up Big Ten play,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “(Striplin) was perfect today.”
Typically, there’s no such thing as being perfect. But on Saturday, Striplin was — literally — perfect. She finished the contest 12 for 12 from the field, 1 for 1 from beyond the arc and 2 for 2 from the free throw line.
Striplin became just the second Hoosier to finish 100% from the field having attempted at least 10 shots. Mackenzie Holmes was the first as she’s done so twice: 10 for 10 against Auburn University in 2022 and 13 for 13 against Eastern Kentucky University in 2020.
“Honestly, it was all about confidence, and when I got the ball just shooting it confidently,” A lot of my coaches had been pouring into me before the game, including Mack, so I just felt really confident up there in the high post, down low.”
Three days ago, as Indiana came from behind to win by 4 points over the University of Southern Indiana, Striplin played just 11 and a half minutes and scored 2 points.
Striplin’s performance coupled with junior forward Lilly Meister’s 11-point showing led Moren to essentially challenge the duo.
“I thought Lilly and Strip were just okay offensively, defensively,” Moren said Wednesday. “I think about some of the post players that we’re going to see in the Big (Big Ten) ... we’re going to play some of the very best post players in the country and we got to be able to respond much better.”
And that’s just what Striplin did Saturday.
Not only did she make every shot she attempted, but she “did a nice job” defending Penn State redshirt sophomore center Gracie Merkle.
Merkle, who stands three inches taller than Striplin at 6-foot-6, finished the contest with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field. She scored 5 points in the third quarter — the most she racked up in one period.
“We knew No. 44 was a great player,” Striplin said. “She’s averaging 20 points in the paint so obviously, you saw our defense was shifting to try and help us a little bit inside.”
With the Hoosiers’ prioritizing the paint defensively, a pair of Lady Lion guards, graduate student Gabby Elliott and senior Jayla Oden, scored 13 and 19 points, respectively. But it was containing Merkle that was most important.
“Our game plan was to try and push her out, get her off her spot as much as we could,” Striplin said. “But, as you see, we struggled a little bit sometimes, but I think it just came down to wanting it more and coming up with those clutch rebounds at crucial times to help us get it back on offense.”
The Hoosiers only marginally outrebounded the Lady Lions, 30 to 25, but they had two more defensive rebounds and three more offensive rebounds. And in the second half, when the game was tied at 30 in the opening stages of the final 20 minutes, the Hoosiers held a three-rebound advantage.
While Striplin dominated the third quarter, Indiana junior guard Yarden Garzon did so in the fourth.
The Ra’anana, Israel, native drained four 3-pointers in the period and six total as she scored 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field.
With Garzon’s 3-pointers raining down and Striplin going to work in the post, the Hoosiers did just what Moren says great teams do: have a “great balance of an inside presence and an outside presence.”
“(Striplin) had a special kind of day,” Moren said, “but we need she and Lilly to be more consistent for us night in and night out.”
Now sitting at 1-0 in Big Ten play, Indiana returns to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to finish its nonconference slate against Bellarmine University on Dec. 15 and Oakland University on Dec. 22. The Hoosiers will then fully dive into their conference schedule.
And while Striplin provided a historic performance Saturday, consistency is key.
“I don’t know that she’ll (Striplin) be able to perfect from the field every night, but they (Striplin and Meister) got to be able to have a presence inside and give us some scoring in order for us to active the things we want to achieve,” Moren said. “There has to be balance.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
