After stepping off the floor at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 12, Indiana women’s basketball looked forward to arguably its biggest week of the season. Indiana faced two massive home matchups against previously ranked Illinois and No. 4 USC.
With the home court advantage at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Indiana had two very winnable games against a respectable Big Ten opponent in the Fighting Illini and one of the nation's best squads in the Trojans. Victories in both would’ve put them in prime position to contend for a Big Ten title and even go as far as potentially locking up a berth in the NCAA Tournament, even with it being only the middle of January.
Eight days later, the Iowa victory seems so distant. As Indiana was unprepared for Illinois’ toughness in the 68-54 loss on Thursday and was just nearly outperformed by USC on Sunday in the 73-66 defeat, the Hoosiers have some serious ground to make up.
Head coach Teri Moren mentioned after the loss to Illinois that the Hoosiers lack of intensity in practice stalled their performance against the Fighting Illini. On Sunday, Indiana was up 11 in the first half against USC and maintained a 4-point lead in the final frame. But when it mattered, Indiana just couldn’t get that finishing blow.
The Hoosiers came to play, headlined by four double-digit point performances. Sydney Parrish led Indiana with 16 points on five field goal makes, including two 3-pointers. Plus, graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil contributed 13 points, and senior forward Karoline Striplin, who got her first start as a Hoosier, and junior guard Yarden Garzon both scored 10.
Defensively, Indiana had a great game plan for the Trojans. In the first half, Indiana did a great job helping defend the Trojans down low. Indiana focused on doubling and then recovering once the ball was passed out of the post.
Additionally, Indiana’s effort to neutralize stellar USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins worked for about a half. Moore-McNeil, who Moren touts as the Hoosiers’ leader, held Watkins to just 8 points.
But Watkins said postgame that she got used to Indiana’s pressure, allowing her to finish with 22 points.
The fact of the matter is that Indiana was much more prepared for this game than it was Thursday night. A couple things go a different way, Indiana has a top five win. Moren said postgame it comes down to one thing.
“We just got to hit shots, it's that easy,” Moren said. “That’s the lesson we got to learn. We got some really good ones, we just didn’t hit them.”
Moren continued by saying that Parrish and Garzon got the most of those good looks.
While both scoring in double digits, they were a combined 8-of-29, with Garzon 3 of 17 by herself.
Now, Indiana is behind the best teams in the Big Ten this season. It will have to scratch and claw back into the picture and will still need some help. Three of the teams it will be behind will be home losses that it arguably could have won –– UCLA, Illinois and USC.
The domino effect of fumbling the marquee home matchups makes this trek to the top of the Big Ten even harder.
Indiana will head west to take on Oregon and Washington on Friday and Jan. 27, respectively. Considering the travel, those games will not be easy. Then, road trips to improved Michigan and Michigan State sides are looming. Plus, it faces two more top 10 home matchups against Ohio State and Maryland.
“Our room for error is very small and we got to be so good on so many levels,” Moren said. “We just got to keep our head down, keep grinding and realize that it’s a marathon not a sprint.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
