Indiana moved to 7-0 on the season after a 67-65 road victory over the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, California.
Pauley Pavilion has not been an easy place to play for opponents. Sunday's loss by the Bruins was just the fourth home loss since the 2015-16 season. But for Indiana, it closes a road trip that took them from Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Wednesday all the way to Westwood for Sunday's matchup.
The Hoosiers now head home for two games against Butler and Missouri State this week before going to Puerto Rico for three games starting December 19.
Now to the three takeaways from Sunday's win in Westwood for the Hoosiers.
Jaelynn Penn's late game heroics
As the game winded down, the game was there for the taking for both teams. There were 10 lead changes and two ties in the final quarter. But it was a big 3-pointer by Jaelynn Penn that delivered the decisive blow to UCLA. Penn knocked down an in-rhythm shot with 29 seconds left to give Indiana a 65-64 advantage. It was her first shot made from behind the arc and it was arguably one of the biggest shots of the game. She also hit a shot with 3:17 left which gave Indiana a one-point lead at the time.
Game winner ‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/ajrePILXaN
— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) December 3, 2018
"Great team effort and proud of this win, the shot that Coach Rhet (Wierzba) drew up for Jaelynn Penn was excellent as far as execution goes and great players make great plays," IU coach Teri Moren said.
Those two buckets were part of Penn's 17-point performance. She ended up finishing the game six-of-11 from the field and four-of-six from the free throw line. Sunday's outing comes on the heels of a 25-point outing at Wake Forest. After a slow start to her sophomore season, her last two games are encouraging.
Big second quarter
The Hoosiers trailed by three after the first quarter. But after doubling up UCLA in the second quarter 20-10, the Hoosiers led by seven going into halftime. A big reason for that was Indiana's 20-3 run going into halftime. IU also scored the final 13 points of the half to give them momentum heading into halftime.
“I love the fight out of this group. We got down early and had to fight our way back into it, go the lead, relinquished the lead, and then got it in the fourth," Moren said.
Indiana made the most shots out of any quarter in the second 10 minutes, going seven-of-14 from the field. Yeaney led the charge with seven points, apart of her 13-point performance in her return to the west coast.
Ali Patberg's impressive start to the season
Ali Patberg has been out of competitive basketball games for quite some time, but has wasted no time getting back to being productive on the court. She is Indiana's starting point guard and has shown why she has been deserving of replacing Tyra Buss. Patberg was once again IU's co-leading scorer Sunday with 17 points and flirted with a triple-double finishing with nine rebounds and eight assists.
"I’m really proud of the resilience I saw from Ali Patberg as she pressured all afternoon and to only have one turnover. It was fantastic to see the leadership of the team from her but it took the entire team effort," Moren said.
Patberg has been aggressive driving to the basket and has that same relentless attitude on the court as Buss had in past seasons. She only turned the ball over once while playing 38 minutes. With no true backup point guard, expect much more of this from Patberg moving forward.
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