It was on a three-game losing streak. It hadn’t won on its home court in over a month — rather, it had lost three consecutive games at home. And it was struggling from 3-point range.
But now, Indiana women’s basketball (15-7, 7-4 Big Ten) has flipped and instead found the form of its old self. The Hoosiers are on a three-game winning streak, including back-to-back wins at home, and have made 41 3-pointers over their last three games — a program record.
With their 81-60 victory over Rutgers (9-14, 1-11 Big Ten) on Thursday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, the Cream and Crimson improved to 15-7 and 7-4 in conference play this season.
The Hoosiers entered the locker room at halftime leading the second-worst team in the Big Ten by just 11 points. They were struggling to get their shots to fall as they did against Nebraska on Sunday.
Inside the locker room at half, Indiana head coach Teri Moren delivered a rather quick and easy message to her team.
“It’s pretty simple; coach (Moren) just said, ‘We’re going to make shots,’” junior guard Shay Ciezki said postgame. “They’re going to fall eventually, we just got to make sure that we have our confidence, and we just keep shooting and they fell for us. That’s for sure.”
Coming out of halftime, the Hoosiers wasted no time connecting on their shots. Graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil nailed a pair of long balls from the corner and the left wing, respectively.
Ciezki followed Moore-McNeil's example, sinking back-to-back 3-pointers from the right wing. By then, the Hoosiers held a commanding 21-point lead.
They weren’t done.
After opening the game going 1 for 5 from long range, junior guard Yarden Garzon hit a long ball from the left corner. And then graduate student guard Sydney Parrish went on a rampage.
The Fishers, Indiana, native drilled a 3 from the right corner before hitting back-to-back 3-pointers from the right wing. Ciezki followed suit, hitting her third of the quarter from the right wing.
Then, to put a stamp on the Hoosiers’ best quarter performance this season, junior guard Henna Sandvik connected on long ball from the left wing.
As the buzzer sounded to conclude the third quarter, the scoreboards inside Assembly Hall read 68-40. Indiana outscored Rutgers by 17 points in the period, giving it a 28-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“I think it just comes down to trust,” Ciezki said. “We trust each other to hit these shots, like Syd said, whether it’s an off night or we’re hot. It's the confidence that we instill in each other, and you could see in the third quarter. We were just getting excited and that just kind of fueled us to hit even more.”
In total, the Hoosiers connected on 10 3-pointers in the quarter, which is more than they had in each game across their three-game losing streak in January. Once they started to fall, Moren said it became contagious.
“I think for me, it's less play calling and they were just, again, it's like anything — it's contagious,” Moren said. “One of them sees it go in, and then I thought Shay did a great job of she was the facilitator on a few of those. Chloe was a facilitator on a few of those. But it was just great to watch Syd, Shay, all of them, just share the ball the way they did and see that thing go in, spacing the floor and we got some really good shots.”
The 3-point barrage allowed Moren to substitute for each of the five starters halfway through the fourth quarter en route to victory. Indiana finished the contest 15 for 28 from beyond the arc and 29 for 53 from the field.
Now sitting at seventh in the Big Ten standings with seven games remaining, the Hoosiers have essentially flipped. Moren was concerned about her squad’s performance — they’ve responded to those concerns with three straight wins.
“So, I hope like crazy that they're gaining confidence because as we go down this stretch here, we're going to need to shoot it with confidence and play with confidence,” Moren said.
Five of Indiana’s final seven regular season games are slated to come against Quad 1 squads — the other two coming against in-state rival Purdue, which currently sits at 8-14 overall and 1-10 in conference play.
The Hoosiers’ first test is scheduled for 3 p.m. Feb. 9 against Minnesota inside Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Although Indiana’s offense is humming, Moren described making shots as an “elementary” idea, yet something that is critical in notching road victories. Through five road conference games, the Hoosiers are 4-1 and have made 45.5% of their field goals in those games.
“Got to be able to hit shots and execute on the offensive side of the ball and make sure that those assists are high and those turnovers continue to stay low,” Moren said. “I think I can speak for our group, we understand what we have to do.”
Over the three-game winning streak, the Hoosiers’ opponents are averaging 63.3 points per game, which is half a point lower than the opponents’ average in the first seven conference games.
But going on the road isn't the same as playing in front of at least 10,000 fans inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. With three of the five Quad 1 games coming on the road, how the Hoosiers play away from home will likely determine their fate.
“We know it's a different deal when you go on the road, but I really do, this is a — and I've said it before,” Moren said, “this is a very determined group and they want to get things right.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
