Indiana women’s basketball had just worked its way back from a 9-point deficit and it could have opted to slow its offense down in hopes of holding for the final shot of the third quarter.
But the Hoosiers didn’t. JuJu Watkins made them pay.
The USC sophomore guard received the ball with just over four seconds on the clock and took two dribbles before setting her feet to hoist a 3-pointer from the left wing. Watkins drained the buzzer-beating long ball and, as she walked toward the Trojans’ bench, shushed the Hoosier faithful inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday.
“Indiana went on a run, so it was just a matter of stopping it before and going into the next quarter with a lot of energy,” Watkins said postgame. “I think that gave us a lot of energy in our timeout.”
No. 4 USC’s energy translated to the hardwood as it outscored Indiana by 6 in the final quarter, thanks in large part to a 12-0 run, en route to a 73-66 victory over Indiana.
“Great crowd,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “Really grateful that our fans came out and supported not just us, women's basketball, today.”
With the “white out” crowd of 12,534 fans behind them, the Hoosiers showed early signs of yet another victory against one of the nation’s best as they led by 11 points early in the second quarter.
Although Indiana trailed by 1 after Watkins’ 3-pointer to end the third quarter, it regained the lead almost immediately. Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish hit a 3-pointer of her own just 16 seconds into the final quarter before she hit a midrange jumper a minute and a half later.
With a 4-point lead in hand and the Hoosier faithful growing raucous, Indiana appeared to have gained control of the contest. All it had to do was hold off the Trojans’ potent offense, which is easier said than done, and continue to execute offensively.
But the Hoosiers failed to do the latter as they went on a field goal drought that lasted nearly six and half minutes in the fourth quarter. Although Indiana knocked down six free throws during the dry spell, USC scored 19 points, which allowed it to build an insurmountable gap.
“I feel like at times we were getting great looks and then I think at times we went away from what got us those great looks,” graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said. “And I think that was really important, especially when you’re playing a great team like USC, you can’t have that slippage.”
The Hoosiers went 4 for 13 from the field in the fourth quarter and went just 2 for 11 after beginning the period with a pair of makes.
Coming off a performance in which she scored 3 points and played just four minutes in the second half, Yarden Garzon again struggled Sunday. The junior guard went 3 for 17 from the field and 2 for 11 from beyond the arc.
“We need her to score for us,” Moren said. “And so, we just kind of keep doing what we're doing, pouring into her, encouraging her and just being her biggest cheerleaders right now that she's a great shooter.”
Garzon wasn’t alone in her shooting woes. As a squad, the Hoosiers shot 37.5% from the field and 27.6% from 3-point range.
“We look back and we’re like, ‘We hit a couple more shots and we win this game,’” Moren said. “So they’re battling and they’re trying after such a poor performance the other night against Illinois, it was good to see them come back.”
After Moren called out her squad for their lack of energy at practice the day before losing to Illinois, she gave the Hoosiers a “hard message” in the postgame locker room Thursday, according to Moore-McNeil.
It was a message that spoke to some more than others, Moore-McNeil said, because it hit home what Moren was preaching. But it led every Hoosier to be mentally focused and possess the energy required for Sunday.
“But they can’t just get up for the big ones,” Moren said. “We got to be up for all of them, because they’re all so hard to win and they know that. And the end of the day, you look back, and we’re going to watch it, talk about some of the things we did well and some of the things we got to clean up.”
While Watkins, who is arguably the best player in the nation, finished the contest with 22 points on 6 for 16 from the field and 2 for 4 from long range, the Hoosiers defense frustrated her in the early going.
Whether it was Moore-McNeil or junior guard Lexus Bargesser defending Watkins, she had to work “extremely hard” for her points, according to Moren. Watkins said she “got used to it” in terms of the Hoosiers’ defensive strategy, which included double teams at times.
“I don’t know how she got used to it because we kept changing up the defense on her,” Moren said. “We didn’t play all man. We went to a little bit of box and one. So that’s what you do, you try to — we corralled a little bit, we shaded a little bit more throughout, so there’s nothing that we would have done differently.”
The Hoosiers now have five days off before facing off with Oregon at 9 p.m. Friday inside Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon.
Indiana now sits at 12-6 and 4-3 in conference play after suffering its second consecutive loss and fourth at home this season. Unlike recent seasons, the Hoosiers are more of a bubble NCAA Tournament team.
In ESPN’s latest March Madness projections, the Hoosiers would be a No. 9 seed, which would be their lowest since being a No. 10 seed in 2018-19, after earning a top four seed in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
The Hoosiers, who have four ranked wins so far this season, still have four games against currently ranked opponents out of their 11 remaining regular season contests. However, Moren doesn’t want her squad to be at their best against only the best teams.
“Every game is really important to what we want to be able to do, and that's to play in March,” Moren said. “We just got to keep focusing on the things that we have to keep improving on and getting better, and I think we will. We got a lot of faith in these guys."
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
