Indiana defeated Penn State 75-67 Wednesday night to improve its winning streak to 13 games.
The game began slow for the Hoosiers. Penn State capitalized on the lack of energy with its intense defense, which appeared to make Indiana uncomfortable during the first quarter.
Indiana's starting five all scored early on to keep pace with Penn State. Seniors Mackenzie Holmes and Sydney Parrish led Indiana throughout the game.
Penn State's Ali Brigham and Shay Ciezki scored several times against the Hoosiers to give the Nittany Lions a 21-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“That’s not the way we wanted to start,” said Indiana coach Teri Moren. “We knew they were going to apply pressure on us and we didn’t handle it very well.”
Penn State continued to outplay Indiana during the second quarter, but not for long.
Indiana’s experience helped the team keep the score close, with Holmes and Parrish leading the Hoosiers. Indiana eventually tied the game 28-28.
The Hoosiers shot abnormally compared to their previous games as Indiana struggled to find its rhythm during the first half. It took a locker room conversation during halftime for Indiana to turn the game around.
“Everyone has to look at themselves and know that there’s more to give,” said Moren. “We have to be connected and we got to help each other.”
Despite the Hoosiers trailing, the All-American Holmes continued to play like one. She had 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks in the first half alone. She finished with 21 points, while Parrish scored 20.
“I thought Parrish was a great spark for us,” said Moren.
Chloe Moore-McNeil stepped up for the Hoosiers in the second half, helping Indiana catch up to Penn State by going on a 10-0 run.
“We had a lot of confidence in ourselves and we knew that we would make our runs and they make their runs,” said Parrish. “Our offense would come to us, we missed a couple of shots early in the game but we started attacking.”
The back-and-forth play continued until Sara Scalia took the ball and scored to put the Hoosiers up 55-51 leading into the 4th quarter. The Hoosiers outscored the Nittany Lions 20-16 in the fourth quarter to win by eight and improve to 5-0 in the Big Ten.
“That's a great Penn State team that plays hard,” said Moren. “Carolyn's done a great job…they're going to win games.”
Indiana will face No. 4 Iowa on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in a game between the co-leaders in the Big Ten.
