Indiana girls’s basketball was presupposed to have an off day after dropping to Butler 56-46 on Nov. 13.
It didn’t.
As a substitute, the Hoosiers gathered for a workforce assembly and intensive movie session, the place they delved into precisely what was going flawed. The loss marked Indiana’s second straight after falling to Harvard in time beyond regulation on Nov. 7.
For a workforce full of a lot success in recent times, Indiana was in uncharted territory after two comparatively stunning defeats. However the quick interval of reflection turned to motivation. That motivation turned to anger, which Indiana exercised in Saturday afternoon’s 79-66 win in opposition to No. 24 Stanford inside Simon Skjodt Meeting Corridor.
“You’re speaking a couple of workforce that, for the final seven plus years, is used to profitable — one of many prime packages within the nation,” Teri Moren stated postgame. “None of this has felt good. However the one factor I continued to say is so long as you’ve got gamers within the locker room that need to repair it, you’ve got an opportunity.”
Via the summer season into the autumn, the looming query was how Indiana would fare with out star middle Mackenzie Holmes. Moren nabbed Tennessee switch Karoline Striplin within the switch portal to pair with sophomore Lilly Meister within the revamped frontcourt, but it surely was going to take much more to recoup the manufacturing of this system’s all-time main scorer.
Towards Harvard and Butler, Indiana sorely missed the presence of a go-to offensive possibility. Holmes wasn’t simply a part of the Hoosiers’ id — she was the id, somebody whose gravity on offense opened up infinite alternatives for the gamers round her. Moren knew there can be intervals of battle with newcomers within the fold, however this was completely different.
Via three video games, the Hoosiers had been capturing 25.5 p.c from 3-point vary. Of their two losses, they averaged a meager 57 factors per recreation. One thing needed to give.
“They’ve been a little bit ticked off,” Moren stated. “It’s by no means a foul factor to play a little bit mad.”
That fireside was evident on Saturday. With Meister sidelined for a lot of the second half in foul bother, sophomore Julianna LaMendola was introduced in primarily for her protection. Within the first half, LaMendola ferociously boxed out a Stanford participant on a rebound and drew a foul.
Within the fourth quarter, she took a cost from Stanford main scorer Nunu Agara, prompting LaMendola to pump her fists and repeatedly scream, “Let’s go!” They had been exactly the form of performs Indiana’s senior leaders burdened heading into the sport.
“Reminding all people what Indiana basketball is about,” Chloe Moore-McNeil stated. “We’re blue-collar.”
Indiana held Stanford to a season-worst 2-of-11 mark from deep, attacking shooters on closeouts and persistently speaking on switches. Moore-McNeil tallied 4 steals, her final organising a wide-open transition layup for junior guard Shay Ciezki.
Final 12 months, the Hoosiers misplaced to the Cardinal 96-64 in Palo Alto. The early season drubbing sparked questions of how properly Indiana might compete in opposition to the highest echelon of opponents. Moore-McNeil stated that blowout loss was used as motivation heading into Saturday.
She wasn’t ready to let that occur once more.
“She’s performed in too many huge video games and she or he is aware of that she has not performed her greatest,” Moren stated of Moore-McNeil. “However as I at all times say, she’s as robust as a $6 steak.”
That toughness helped stifle Agara and Stanford’s shooters, but it surely was the rejuvenation of Indiana’s offense that sealed the victory. After failing to sink greater than six 3-pointers in a recreation this season, the Hoosiers drained 9 of their 19 makes an attempt on Saturday.
Moore-McNeil shot 2-for-5 from deep en path to a game-high 21 factors and Ciezki added a pair of triples, as properly. However junior Yarden Garzon — whose 4 3-pointers led the workforce — altered the dynamic of Indiana’s offense.
Within the third quarter, Garzon splashed two threes on consecutive possessions to place Indiana up 53-38, sending the Hoosier devoted right into a frenzy.
“These are two big-time photographs by a big-time participant,” Moren stated.
Like Moore-McNeil, Garzon used the sting of final 12 months’s blowout loss to Stanford as motivation. When Garzon nailed the second straight 3-pointer, she threw her arms within the air and invited shouts and cheers from the followers.
“Shedding sucks,” Garzon stated. “We simply wished to win. All people on the workforce wished to do all the pieces of their means to win this recreation.”
With little inside scoring presence on Saturday, Moore-McNeil, Ciezki, and Garzon all scored not less than 18 factors. Within the second quarter, Indiana stormed on a 14-0 run and held Stanford scoreless for a little bit over 5 minutes.
The Hoosiers dictated the tempo from the outset, sprinting in transition and attempting to create as many scoring alternatives as doable. Moren stated she gave extra liberty for her workforce to play sooner and with extra freedom and so they responded with a win of an significance tough to really measure.
“I believe we simply wanted a couple of video games to get our ft below ourselves by way of realizing it is a completely different workforce than the previous years,” Moore-McNeil stated.
After Indiana’s second straight loss, exterior considerations crept in. Moren swiftly dismissed these. She knew this workforce would take time to gel and discover its type.
She additionally knew that that they had appreciable potential as soon as they gained confidence and grew collectively. Nonetheless, they aren’t with out flaws. Even on Sunday, Indiana stalled within the latter a part of the fourth quarter, giving Stanford a sliver of hope.
Moren is aware of the win doesn’t totally clear up the workforce’s issues, but it surely was arduous to not discover what might be.
“Whenever you undergo tough patches, I believe you discover out shortly what you’re made from,” Moren stated. “We came upon at present that we’re succesful of an entire lot.”
(Photograph credit score: IU Athletics)
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