IU women’s basketball thumped by North Carolina after strong start to Battle 4 Atlantis
Coming off a gutsy win over then-No. 24 Stanford on Nov. 17, Indiana women’s basketball arrived at Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in The Bahamas with plenty of momentum.
The Hoosiers topped Columbia 72-62 on Saturday behind stellar play from sophomore Lilly Meister and junior Yarden Garzon and a day later took down No. 18 Baylor 73-65 to advance to Monday’s championship game against North Carolina.
Yet, the momentum that the Hoosiers built over the weekend was extinguished by the Tar Heels. Indiana was completely stifled in the second half and fell 69-39, its largest margin of defeat since Nov. 12, 2023, against Stanford.
The Tar Heels unleashed an onslaught of 3-pointers, shooting 11-for-23 from distance compared to a meager 4-for-26 mark for the Hoosiers. Garzon was the only Indiana player to eclipse 8 points and the Hoosiers shot a combined 29 percent from the field.
“This wasn’t our finest 40 minutes,” head coach Teri Moren said Monday via Zoom. “We didn’t have the urgency level we needed, and that was disappointing.”
After a solid resume building win against Baylor, Indiana’s performance on Monday left much to be desired and exemplified the recurring growing pains of this year’s revamped team.
Here are a few notes and takeaways from the Hoosiers’ Battle 4 Atlantis performances:
Two steps forward, one step back
After reeling off its third straight win Sunday against Baylor, Indiana was physical and comfortable with North Carolina’s tempo through the first half. The Tar Heels gained a 32-26 advantage through the first 20 minutes, but the Hoosiers were completely shut down thereafter.
Indiana scored just 13 second-half points and looked dysfunctional on offense and vulnerable on defense. North Carolina’s 3-point explosion largely came on open looks, often stemming from breakdowns within the Hoosiers’ rotations.
Juniors Indya Nivar and Trayanna Crisp both tallied 15 points for the Tar Heels and Crisp splashed four triples in the first half alone. Indiana hasn’t been able to piece together consistent performances all season and Monday’s loss shined a light on that variability.
Moren talked at length in the offseason about how different the team would look post-Mackenzie Holmes, but now close to a month into the season, it’s difficult to decipher the Hoosiers’ identity.
“That wasn’t us today at all,” senior Chloe Moore-McNeil said. “That wasn’t us at all. And I take full responsibility, as one of our leaders, because I can’t allow that to happen.”
Yarden Garzon records second career double-double
During the first half against Columbia, it seemed Indiana might fall victim to yet another unexpected upset. It had already lost to Harvard and Butler earlier in the season, and on Saturday, despite shooting just 15.4 percent from 3-point range, Columbia was winning the rebounding battle.
The Lions corralled eight offensive boards in the first half and consistently created second chance opportunities. But in the second half, Indiana made a concerted effort to prevent them. The Hoosiers won the second half rebounding battle 20-10 and prevented Columbia from pulling down a single offensive board.
Garzon led the team with 10 rebounds and added 18 points for her second career double-double.
“In order to win, we had to take the rebounds,” Garzon said on Saturday. “We couldn’t let them score from second chance anymore and the coaches did a great job in emphasizing that.”
Garzon shot 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and extended her double-digit scoring streak to five games. She knocked down at least two triples in each of those five games while also ranking third on the team in assists and second in steals.
Shay Ciezki steps up against Baylor
A day after Meister and Garzon combined for 38 points to lead Indiana over Columbia, the Hoosiers needed a savior against Baylor. Junior Shay Ciezki answered the call, erupting for a season-high 34 points en route to Indiana’s 73-65 victory.
Ciezki was brought in from Penn State this offseason primarily for her outside shooting prowess, which the Hoosiers needed a jolt of following Sara Scalia’s graduation. She struggled in that regard for the first two games of the season, shooting a combined 0-for-6 from range.
But after Ciezki’s quiet outing against Columbia, she was virtually unguardable against Baylor. Ciezki drained four of her five 3-point attempts and shot 12-for-13 from the free throw line, spearheading Indiana’s second ranked win of the season.
“We all know that any day, any time, any game, someone can have one of those special moments for us,” Moren said on Sunday. “Today it was Shay’s time to shine.”
But Ciezki didn’t just have success from beyond the arc. She was able to score at all three levels, mixing in midrange jumpers and aggressive drives to the rim. Ciezki creates plenty of space off the ball with her quickness and Moren noted the importance of her “wiggle” and craftiness when taking on defenders.
“She’s aggressive,” Moren said. “Shay loves the game, she’s passionate about the game and she plays it like that — with a tremendous amount of passion.”
Sydney Parrish misses title game with injury
After colliding with Baylor forward Aaronette Vonleh in the second quarter of Sunday’s matchup, Sydney Parrish exited to the locker room with an apparent left leg injury. She did not see any action in the second half and walked with crutches and an ice pack wrapped around her knee.
Parrish was sidelined for Monday’s championship loss to North Carolina and Moren said she won’t know a timeline for the forward’s return until the team doctors conduct further imaging.
“We know one thing about Syd Parrish, and she’s tough,” Moren said. “If she could play, she would. If she’s not, we’re going to protect her. We still got a lot of season left ahead of us.”
Parrish has been struggling offensively this season, averaging 9.3 points on 35.8 percent shooting from the field and a dismal 12 percent from beyond the arc. Still, Parrish is an adept defender and the team’s second leading rebounder, pulling down 6.3 boards per game.
Sophomore Julianna LaMendola made her first career start in lieu of Parrish on Monday, logging career highs of 6 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes. LaMendola is primarily defensive minded, and while her effort is unquestioned, she showed her youth and inexperience on a couple of rotational miscommunications.
Parrish’s absence was glaring.
“We obviously missed Syd today,” Moren said. “She’s one of our leaders and a vocal presence on the floor. Jules came in and played hard, but it’s going to be another adjustment period.”
Indiana was thoroughly dominated by North Carolina as a whole, both on the glass and in terms of scoring efficiency. Now, the Hoosiers have plenty of time to regroup before returning to Bloomington to host Maine on Dec. 1.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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