With just under four minutes remaining in the first quarter, graduate student guard Sydney Parrish drove to the rim and scored a layup between two opposing Rutgers defenders, putting Indiana women’s basketball up 14-5.
But that was the Hoosiers' last field goal for nearly eight minutes — until junior guard Shay Ciezki scored a basket with just over six minutes to play in the second quarter.
Indiana’s shots weren’t falling and its nine turnovers in the first half limited its ability to even attempt shots.
The Hoosiers have had shooting droughts and stretches where shots don’t fall multiple times this season, like their loss at Oregon on Jan. 24, when Indiana scored just one field goal in the final five minutes of the contest. And while their defense was strong, it wasn’t enough to keep them in the game.
But Thursday was different.
Even with a stagnant offense, the Hoosiers found a way to stifle the Scarlet Knights’ attack. They held Rutgers to just 8 points in the first quarter and 13 points in the second quarter.
On the backs of their strong defense, Indiana went to the locker room at halftime with an 11-point advantage over Rutgers. And even when their shots began to fall, the Hoosiers didn’t let up and continued to pull away from the Scarlet Knights, ultimately winning 81-60 on Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
“I think that was a major thing on the defensive end that we had to do to get the win,” Parrish said of Indiana’s defensive rebounding. “And I think going into halftime, our boxing out, ability to box out and get those rebounds was the reason we were winning the game.”
By winning the battle on the glass, Indiana limited Rutgers’ second-chance attempts. Along with the defensive rebounds, the Hoosiers also limited the Scarlet Knights’ shot attempts with turnovers, forcing Rutgers to turn the ball over six times in the first half.
But other than limiting the Scarlet Knights’ shot attempts, Indiana had to play tough defense against freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller, who averaged 19 points and 3.1 assists per game heading into the matchup Thursday.
“You just got to stay attached to her because at any point she, as you guys watched tonight, behind your back a couple times, between your legs a couple times, back and forth, a lot of her shots come off of, we call them comfort dribbles,” head coach Teri Moren said of McMiller. “The minute you let your guard down, the minute you let your hands come down and you're not as pressed up to her, that's when she can hurt you.”
While McMiller found ways to score in the first half, Indiana’s defense continued to play strong in the second half, holding the Silver Spring, Maryland, native to just 4 points.
“This was a team that I was concerned about just because with a kid like number 32 who can really heat it up, but I thought we did a good job tonight of really trying to stay in her space,” Moren said. “And Destiny Adams is another kid that's played really well for them. But I thought again, another good performance defensively."
Moren complimented graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and junior guard Lexus Bargesser for their focus on defending opposing teams’ guards, like McMiller, and buying into the Hoosiers’ defensive game plan. But what Moren was most proud of defensively was her team’s communication.
“There's a lot of communication that's going on the floor, but also in those timeouts,” Moren said. “And so that's what I'm most proud of. But yeah, we're going to have to have it traveling over to Minnesota over the weekend.”
Indiana (15-7, 7-4 Big Ten) will face off with Minnesota (18-6, 6-6 Big Ten) at 3 p.m. Sunday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, which will serve as the beginning of a seven-game gauntlet for the Hoosiers that includes five Quad 1 opponents.
With streaky shooting stretches being a danger for Indiana, it will have to continue to rely on its defense as the Hoosiers enter one of the toughest stretches of their season.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
