INDIANAPOLIS — When Sydney Parrish walked off the court, she turned to Chloe Moore-McNeil. Parrish told her to say thank you to the Hoosier faithful.
Indiana women’s basketball defeated Oregon by 16 points Thursday thanks in large part to the Hoosier fans in attendance who made it feel as if the game was in Bloomington. Although Indiana fell short, both graduate student guards wanted to show gratitude toward their fans.
The fans responded with a loud roar because their team might be peaking at the best possible moment.
The Hoosiers fell to the Trojans 84-79 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. But showing fantastic poise, toughness and grit against the No. 2 team in the nation speaks volumes about where they are mentally. They know its March, and its go time.
Indiana should’ve beaten USC on Friday, but it didn’t need to as it is safely in the NCAA Tournament. However, Indiana had to prove to its fans after some bad performances this season that it can compete with a team of USC’s caliber because it will likely face either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it wins its Round of 64 matchup.
For the second time this season, Indiana played wire-to-wire with the Trojans, and even with the loss, the Hoosiers are peaking at the right time.
The fans in attendance saw tremendous performances from the most WNBA-ready players on each team. A back-and-forth scoring battle commenced between Trojans sophomore guard JuJu Watkins and Hoosiers junior guard Yarden Garzon, who had 31 and 23 points, respectively.
The Trojans had the lead for the majority of the game and had many chances to pull away, but the Hoosiers responded to each USC punch with one of their own.
USC led more than two separate times in the second half by 7 points, and then had an additional run with an 8-point lead. However, Indiana fought back and was within 3 points with two minutes to go.
A handful of instances could’ve given Indiana points that would’ve gotten it over the hump. A Garzon triple after some elite ball handling went down and then out of the hoop, costing Indiana 3 points. Senior forward Karoline Striplin was sent to the free-throw line with less than a minute to go, but she missed one, preventing Indiana from being within 4 points in the final minute.
But even with the loss, the Hoosiers held their heads high. Postgame, Parrish said not many teams can say they’ve played 40 minutes of competitive basketball with the Trojans not only once, but twice.
“We have seen USC roll over teams, kill teams, but we haven’t been that team yet,” Parrish said. “That gives us a little bit of motivation heading into March.”
In the end, the Hoosiers played well enough to win but fell victim to USC’s size. Eleven offensive rebounds, 10 second-chance points and 26 points in the paint gave the Trojans the edge.
The Hoosiers have simply played better in the past two games in Indianapolis.
Garzon hit some stellar shots, junior guard Shay Ciezki struggled in the first half against USC but turned it on late when her team needed her. Moore-McNeil had 17 points and got to the free-throw line for 10 shots, converting all of them.
Indiana is a good team, but it wasn’t good enough in the regular season to be considered great, and potentially better its seed in the Big Ten Tournament. They fell quite short of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. However, that hasn’t stopped the Hoosiers from playing their hearts out, as they showed Friday.
“We want everybody to know we are tough,” Garzon said. “No matter who we are going to play, we want to win this game.”
Indiana head coach Teri Moren came to the podium disappointed in the loss, but optimistic about her team's not-too-distant future heading into the NCAA tournament. She said the Hoosiers’ performances against Oregon and USC bode well for them.
“It should give us great confidence,” Moren said postgame. “I think there will be a whole new level of excitement.”
Moren and company will have a full week of rest and will await their next destination on Selection Sunday on March 16. If Indiana can keep playing like it did in Indianapolis, it will give a good fight to whatever team it plays, whether it's a team seeded No. 7 through No. 10 in the first round or seeded No. 1 or No. 2 in the second.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
