‘As you go, we go’: Chloe Moore-McNeil guides IU women’s basketball to win against Nebraska
If Chloe Moore-McNeil was excited, her face didn’t show it. It’s possible her focus and intensity masked the emotion, but after each hard-fought steal, each made 3-pointer, each assist, her expression was blank.
“When Chloe’s in that zone she’s really good, both defensively and offensively,” Teri Moren said of the fifth-year senior.
In Indiana’s 76-60 win against Nebraska Sunday afternoon inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Moore-McNeil was in that zone. She finished second on the team in points with 15 and added seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
After falling to Illinois on Jan. 16 — the first of three consecutive losses for the Hoosiers — Moren lamented the team’s energy in practice, which manifested with stretches of lethargic play against the Illini. But that was far from the case against the Cornhuskers and Moore-McNeil was a key reason why.
Coming into Sunday, Nebraska ranked second in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage at 35.2 percent. Spearheaded by Moore-McNeil’s suffocating perimeter defense, the Hoosiers took away those opportunities almost entirely. The Cornhuskers finished 3-for-11 from beyond the arc and endured long scoring droughts on multiple occasions.
In the second quarter, Nebraska did not record a point for five minutes. While Moore-McNeil’s fifth season has been hampered by scoring inconsistencies, her performance Sunday showed why she’s a driving force for Indiana, an engine that determines the team’s direction.
Roughly three minutes into the first quarter, Moore-McNeil curled around a screen and drove into the paint. She locked her eyes on Yarden Garzon for a 3-point opportunity on the wing and Nebraska shifted its focus in that direction.
Instead, Moore-McNeil fired an effortless no-look pass into the corner to Sydney Parrish, who drilled the 3-pointer.
“I always tell her this,” Moren said of Moore-McNeil. “As you go, we go. If she can put back-to-back performances together like that every night, we’re a much better basketball team.”
Early in the second quarter, Moore-McNeil was guarding Nebraska sophomore guard Logan Nissley on the left wing, hands high and in her face, not allowing an inch of space to be taken. Moore-McNeil swiped the ball and pushed it ahead, maintaining her control while frantically trying to create a play.
She kicked it to Parrish, who immediately found a cutting Lilly Meister for an open layup. Then, in the fourth quarter, with under two minutes remaining and the result sealed, Moore-McNeil cut off a dribble handoff and dove to the hardwood to secure the loose ball.
This time, she slipped a pass to Yarden Garzon, who pushed it ahead to Parrish for a breakaway score.
Defense to offense. Physicality to quickness. It all started with Moore-McNeil.
“This is how it should look for us,” Moren said.
Was it the most complete game of the season for Indiana? “Maybe,” Moren said. Moore-McNeil had slightly more conviction.
“I would say, for the most part, yes,” Moore-McNeil said. “Just us being locked in on both ends of the court and focusing in on what Nebraska likes to do.”
The lingering issue is that it doesn’t look quite like this more often. Indiana split its West Coast trip last week, falling to Oregon 54-47 before edging Washington 73-70. Against the Ducks, the Hoosiers were plagued by turnovers and a late-game collapse.
Garzon’s 35-point outburst — a career-high for the Ra’anana, Israel, native — helped stabilize Indiana down the stretch against the Huskies. And Sunday, as Nebraska closed the deficit to nine points in the fourth quarter, Indiana didn’t unravel.
Moore-McNeil said Parrish, the team’s co-captain, had words of encouragement as the margins thinned.
“She spoke out and pointed out that in these games, a time like that, fourth quarter, we need to learn from our past mistakes and be more mature with the ball,” Moore-McNeil said. “I think we’ve done that today.”
The Hoosiers only turned the ball over eight times, tied for the lowest tally of the season. Aside from Moore-McNeil, Indiana received plenty of offensive contributions. Garzon led the team with 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc, and Karoline Striplin continued to impress.
The Tennessee transfer scored 13 points, her fourth straight game in double figures since being inserted into the starting lineup. While Parrish only shot 4-of-13 from the field, she added 11 points, as well.
Indiana shot a collective 13-for-30 (43 percent) from deep, often responding to Nebraska’s offensive runs with a 3-point counterpunch. After shooting 22.2 percent from range against Oregon, the Hoosiers bounced back with two of their best shot-making performances of the year.
“Our ability to shoot it the way we shot it today is really important to our success,” Moren said. “I mean, it’s the only way we’re going to be successful. We’re not completely satisfied defensively, but that’s one thing that we know that we can control.”
Importantly, with eight regular-season games left, the Hoosiers recorded consecutive wins that could be important for tournament seeding.
Washington and Nebraska slot in at 56th and 34th in the NCAA women’s basketball NET rankings, respectively. Moren’s squad still has Ohio State, Maryland and Michigan State — all currently in the conference’s top five teams — remaining on the schedule.
Indiana is in a favorable position for the postseason and most recently was projected as a No. 9 seed in ESPN’s Bracketology, but it could still use more quality wins. If Moore-McNeil can build on Sunday’s performance, the Hoosiers would have a strong opportunity to earn them.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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