Having a quiet 30 points might not be possible, but Yarden Garzon made it look easy. She set her new career high and did not even realize it.
“During the game, I didn’t really know how many points I had,” Garzon said. “But I feel, I am trying to get better every day.”
Despite not feeling like it was different than any other game, Garzon got off to a hot start. She started 7 of 7 from the field and did not miss until the 5-minute mark of the third quarter.
This play from Garzon helped lead the 16th-ranked Hoosiers to a dominant offensive win in a 109-56 rout of the Evansville Purple Aces.
Garzon, who is only a sophomore, had a career-high in field goals made with 12. She seemingly kept her head down and scored each bucket unbothered by the defense from the Purple Aces.
“She doesn’t get sped up, she really just plays at her own pace,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. “She’s uber-talented because she can post up, she’s obviously really good from beyond the arc, and she is a fantastic passer, and she still continues to be pushed and challenged.”
Another thing the Hoosiers can go home happy about is the play of their bench. Not only did they help the team shoot an NCAA season-high 71.7 percent from the floor (which is a program record), but they also scored a season-high 31 points from off the bench.
The strong performance from the bench was led by nine points from freshman Lenée Beaumont. She and freshman Julianna LaMendola brought energy and showed Moren the potential of how deep Indiana can be off the bench heading into Big Ten play in the next few weeks.
“It’s great on nights like these where you can feed them minutes and they can be productive,” Moren said. “And they can feel good about the production of what they did both offensively and defensively.”
After nine days off because of final exams, Indiana did not look rusty. But, there was one aspect of the game that stuck out to both the players and coaches that needed improvement. This was Indiana’s percentage from the free-throw line: the team shot 70.6 percent from the charity stripe but missed 10 of its 34 attempts.
Missing this many shots from the line may be OK against a team of Evansville’s stature but could come back to haunt them come conference play.
“Seventy percent is not going to cut it,” Mackenzie Holmes said. “We need to knock down those free throws.”
Moren said she wants them to shoot better from the line but does not want to overdo stressing its importance. If she does put too much pressure on knocking these shots down, she feels the players will not be as relaxed heading to the line.
Indiana will close out non-conference play at home at 6 p.m. Friday against Bowling Green.
