Indiana women’s basketball tops No. 24 Stanford to snap two-game losing skid

Indiana women’s basketball was supposed to have an off day after losing to Butler 56-46 on Nov. 13.

It didn’t.

Instead, the Hoosiers gathered for a team meeting and extensive film session, where they delved into exactly what was going wrong. The loss marked Indiana’s second straight after falling to Harvard in overtime on Nov. 7.

For a team filled with so much success in recent years, Indiana was in uncharted territory after two relatively shocking defeats. But the short period of reflection turned to motivation. That motivation turned to anger, which Indiana exercised in Saturday afternoon’s 79-66 win against No. 24 Stanford inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

“You’re talking about a team that, for the last seven plus years, is used to winning — one of the top programs in the country,” Teri Moren said postgame. “None of this has felt good. But the one thing I continued to say is as long as you have players in the locker room that want to fix it, you have a chance.”

Through the summer into the fall, the looming question was how Indiana would fare without star center Mackenzie Holmes. Moren nabbed Tennessee transfer Karoline Striplin in the transfer portal to pair with sophomore Lilly Meister in the revamped frontcourt, but it was going to take far more to recoup the production of the program’s all-time leading scorer.

Against Harvard and Butler, Indiana sorely missed the presence of a go-to offensive option. Holmes wasn’t just part of the Hoosiers’ identity — she was the identity, someone whose gravity on offense opened up endless opportunities for the players around her. Moren knew there would be periods of struggle with newcomers in the fold, but this was different.

Through three games, the Hoosiers were shooting 25.5 percent from 3-point range. In their two losses, they averaged a meager 57 points per game. Something had to give.

“They’ve been a little ticked off,” Moren said. “It’s never a bad thing to play a little mad.”

That fire was evident on Saturday. With Meister sidelined for most of the second half in foul trouble, sophomore Julianna LaMendola was brought in primarily for her defense. In the first half, LaMendola ferociously boxed out a Stanford player on a rebound and drew a foul.

In the fourth quarter, she took a charge from Stanford leading scorer Nunu Agara, prompting LaMendola to pump her fists and repeatedly scream, “Let’s go!” They were precisely the kind of plays Indiana’s senior leaders stressed heading into the game.

“Reminding everybody what Indiana basketball is about,” Chloe Moore-McNeil said. “We’re blue-collar.”

Indiana held Stanford to a season-worst 2-of-11 mark from deep, attacking shooters on closeouts and consistently communicating on switches. Moore-McNeil tallied four steals, her last setting up a wide-open transition layup for junior guard Shay Ciezki.

Last year, the Hoosiers lost to the Cardinal 96-64 in Palo Alto. The early season drubbing sparked questions of how well Indiana could compete against the top echelon of opponents. Moore-McNeil said that blowout loss was used as motivation heading into Saturday.

She wasn’t prepared to let that happen again.

“She’s played in too many big games and she knows that she has not played her best,” Moren said of Moore-McNeil. “But as I always say, she’s as tough as a $6 steak.”

That toughness helped stifle Agara and Stanford’s shooters, but it was the rejuvenation of Indiana’s offense that sealed the victory. After failing to sink more than six 3-pointers in a game this season, the Hoosiers drained nine of their 19 attempts on Saturday.

Moore-McNeil shot 2-for-5 from deep en route to a game-high 21 points and Ciezki added a pair of triples, as well. But junior Yarden Garzon — whose four 3-pointers led the team — altered the dynamic of Indiana’s offense.

In the third quarter, Garzon splashed two threes on consecutive possessions to put Indiana up 53-38, sending the Hoosier faithful into a frenzy.

“Those are two big-time shots by a big-time player,” Moren said.

Like Moore-McNeil, Garzon used the sting of last year’s blowout loss to Stanford as motivation. When Garzon nailed the second straight 3-pointer, she threw her arms in the air and invited shouts and cheers from the fans.

“Losing sucks,” Garzon said. “We just wanted to win. Everybody on the team wanted to do everything in their ability to win this game.”

With little inside scoring presence on Saturday, Moore-McNeil, Ciezki, and Garzon all scored at least 18 points. In the second quarter, Indiana stormed on a 14-0 run and held Stanford scoreless for a little over five minutes.

The Hoosiers dictated the pace from the outset, sprinting in transition and trying to create as many scoring opportunities as possible. Moren said she gave more liberty for her team to play faster and with more freedom and they responded with a win of an importance difficult to truly measure.

“I think we just needed a few games to get our feet under ourselves in terms of realizing this is a different team than the past years,” Moore-McNeil said.

After Indiana’s second straight loss, external concerns crept in. Moren swiftly dismissed those. She knew this team would take time to gel and find its form.

She also knew that they had considerable potential once they gained confidence and grew collectively. However, they aren’t without flaws. Even on Sunday, Indiana stalled in the latter part of the fourth quarter, giving Stanford a sliver of hope.

Moren knows the win doesn’t entirely solve the team’s problems, but it was hard not to notice what could be.

“When you go through rough patches, I think you find out quickly what you’re made of,” Moren said. “We found out today that we’re capable of a whole lot.”

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Category: Women's Basketball

Filed to: