Seeking its fourth consecutive victory, Indiana women’s basketball traveled to Williams Arena in Minneapolis to face off with Minnesota on Sunday. Despite holding with the Golden Gophers in the first half, the Hoosiers fell behind in the second and fell 66-56.
Although the Golden Gophers jumped out to an early lead, the Hoosiers responded with an 11-2 stretch late in the first quarter to head into the second with a 4-point lead.
However, Minnesota responded in the second quarter with an 8-0 run to take a 3-point lead over Indiana with just over four minutes left in the half. Junior guard Shay Ciezki went on her own 5-point spurt to end the period, but the Golden Gophers still led by 2 points at halftime.
Ciezki led all scorers in the opening half with 8 points while graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and senior forward Karoline Striplin each added 7.
Minnesota continued to handle Indiana in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors by 7 points to lead by 9 with just one quarter remaining. The Hoosiers went just 38.5% from the field in the quarter while the Golden Gophers shot 66.7%.
Although the Hoosiers surrendered 8 points over the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, they bounced back with a 9-0 run. Trailing by just 6 points with under two minutes remaining, the Cream and Crimson were back within striking distance.
However, Indiana failed to pull any closer as Minnesota outscored the Hoosiers by 4 over the final minute and a half en route to the victory.
With the loss, Indiana fell to 15-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play. Striplin and Ciezki both paced the Hoosiers with 12 points apiece.
Minnesota junior guard Amaya Battle led the Golden Gophers with 16 points while senior center Sophie Hart added 14. The Hoosiers shot just 37.5% from the field and 31.8% from 3-point range. Conversely, the Golden Gophers shot 44.2% from the field and a lackluster 18.2% from beyond the arc.
The Hoosiers have three days off until they travel to face off with Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game will stream on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
