Just two weeks ago, Indiana women’s basketball pulled off a dominant 22-point win over Purdue on Feb. 15 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Three Hoosiers scored in double figures during the matchup — junior guard Yarden Garzon tallied 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while graduate student guard Sydney Parrish and junior guard Shay Ciezki added 19 points and 16 points, respectively.
Defensively, Indiana held Purdue to just 56 points and recorded a season-high 13 steals, led by Parrish, who had a season-high four steals.
The Hoosiers’ victory over the Boilermakers gave Indiana it’s 12th straight win over Purdue — its last loss coming Jan. 20, 2019, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
Since then, both teams have suffered two losses and claimed one victory each. Purdue fell to Minnesota and then-No. 8 Ohio State before it beat Penn State. Indiana defeated Ohio State on Feb. 20 but then lost to then-No. 22 Michigan State on Feb. 23 and No. 19 Maryland on Feb. 27 ahead of its contest against the Boilermakers.
Maryland defeated Indiana by 14 points in the Hoosiers’ final home game of the season and spoiled their senior night. Indiana struggled to play consistently on both sides of the floor against the Terrapins, and Indiana head coach Teri Moren cited her team’s lack of focus for the loss.
But Parrish said she found moments of success the Hoosiers can carry into their matchup with Purdue and the post season.
“I think we saw glimpses of us playing how we can play,” Parrish said after the loss Feb. 23. “Maryland is a ranked team, they’re really good. We’re not ranked, but we know we need to come out with those wins. We’ve seen it a couple of times this season, but we have to make sure we go to Purdue, handle business and then it’s game on, and we all know that, and we have to make a run in the right time and we’re going to do that.”
Purdue sits at 10-18 overall and 3-14 in Big Ten matchups. It has just one player who averages in double figures — fifth-year senior guard Destini Lombard, who averages 10 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. She scored 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting in the first meeting between the Hoosiers and the Boilermakers. Sophomore guards Rashunda Jones and Sophie Swanson add 9.8 and 8.8 points respectively for Purdue.
Garzon and graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil have the opportunity to break two program records during Sunday’s game.
With her start against Maryland, Moore-McNeil — who has spent her entire five-year collegiate career at Indiana — tied guard Grace Berger for the most games played with 148 in her career. Moore-McNeil will surpass Berger with her 149th game Sunday against the Boilermakers.
In just her third season, Garzon can become the Hoosiers’ all-time leader in made 3-pointers. With just one basket from long range, Garzon will set the program record at 206 and pass guard Kris McGrade, who set the record across her career from 1990-94.
Garzon currently leads the Hoosiers with 2.6 3-pointers per game and is shooting 40.1% from 3-point range. Earlier this season, in the Hoosiers win over Washington on Jan. 27, Garzon tied the program’s record set by guard Sara Scalia for 3-pointers made in a game with eight.
Tipoff for the Hoosiers final game of the regular season is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at Mackey Arena. The contest can be streamed on Peacock.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
