WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — At the seven minute and nine-second mark in the first quarter of Indiana women’s basketball’s contest with Purdue, junior guard Yarden Garzon etched her name in program history in just her third season with the Hoosiers.
The Ra’anana, Israel, native made a 3-point basket, the 206th of her collegiate career. With the bucket, Garzon tied Indiana guard Kris McGrade’s record for the most career 3-point makes, which she set in 1994.
Later, in the final period, Garzon passed McGrade’s record as she made two more 3-point baskets to put her career total at 208. This season, Garzon has 76 baskets from long range on 40.4% shooting.
“It's hard to become the leading, whether it's 3-point scorer, rebounder, it's hard to achieve things like that,” head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “We get to see it every day with watching her in practice and then watching her even in an individual instruction. It's kind of fun to watch a kid like that that can shoot it the way she shoots it. But for her to get it here at Indiana, I think it is extra special.”
Not only did Garzon’s first basket tie the program record, but it also put Indiana ahead of Purdue for the Hoosiers’ first lead of the game Sunday. And once they held the lead, they retained it to claim a 20-point win over the Boilermakers at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Garzon recorded 15 points and seven rebounds as one of three Hoosiers to score in double figures in their victory over Purdue. Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish and junior guard Shay Ciezki scored 20 points and 18 points, respectively.
“We are their biggest cheerleaders,” Moren said about her staff’s support of the players. “And even on the days that they don't do anything out of the ordinary, we want them to excel. We want them to do well. We want to help them any way we can.”
And Moren has proved that throughout the course of Garzon’s third year. Even when her shots weren’t falling at certain moments of the season, Moren continued to put the ball in Garzon’s hands.
During the Hoosiers three-game losing stretch against Illinois on Jan. 16, then-No. 4 USC on Jan. 19 and Oregon on Jan. 24, Garzon struggled to connect on her shots from all areas of the court. She made just one basket against the Fighting Illini and went 3 for 17 and 4 for 14 against the Trojans and Ducks, respectively. Her showing at Oregon included a 0-for-5 shooting performance from beyond the arc.
After the period, Moren expressed her concerns for Garzon’s cold stretch, but still emphasized her importance to the Hoosiers.
And just three days later, Garzon put together one of her best 3-point shooting games of the season. Against Washington on Jan. 27, she made a career-high eight 3-pointers in a game on 8-of-10 shooting from long range.
Moren stressed that it’s important to put the ball in the hands of players like Garzon even when they are going through rough shooting periods. The gesture is made to give them a vote of confidence from Moren and the coaching staff.
Indiana has continued to run through Garzon, but when she struggles, so does the rest of the team.
Garzon made just one 3-point basket during the Hoosiers back-to-back road losses to Minnesota on Feb. 9 and Michigan on Feb. 12. But when she went 3 for 5 from long range against then-No. 8 Ohio State on Feb. 20, Indiana emerged with a win over a ranked opponent.
With the Hoosiers’ success being so closely tied to Garzon’s, she will play an important role for them as they enter the postseason. Indiana will begin the Big Ten Tournament with a matchup against Oregon at noon Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
