ALBANY — Sitting in the south locker room of MVP Arena down 17, Indiana women’s basketball was on its way to another blowout loss.
Stanford. Iowa. Ohio State. South Carolina was about to add onto the list of dominant victories over Indiana.
Until senior guard Chloe Moore-McNeil once again became a vocal leader in the locker room as she did in Bloomington.
“Keep fighting,” Moore-McNeil said.
Shooting 37.5% from the field and 35.3% from outside the arc during the first half was wiped away from the team’s mind like using the neuralyzer from "Men in Black."
There, momentum sparked for the Hoosiers going into the second half with 8:23 to go. Senior guard Sara Scalia shot a 3-pointer, missed it, and rebounded her own shot and scored in the paint for the first points of the half with the Gamecocks still up 53-34.
Then, sophomore guard Yarden Garzon made a triple while getting fouled for a 4-point play opportunity. She made the free throw, and it was 56-38.
Every time Indiana scored, South Carolina had an answer back. Indiana graduate student guard Mackenzie Holmes sunk a layup to cut the lead 59-40. Senior guard Sydney Parrish then sparked a personal 8-0 run to cut the lead to 13.
“Just chip away slowly,” Parrish said. “I don't know if there was any motivation exactly. I think coming into the game my biggest motivation was trying not to make it Mackenzie, Sara and Relle's (redshirt senior center Arielle Wisne) last game.”
The Hoosiers continued to chip away through the third frame. From effective shooting from the field to pesky defense, they would win the third quarter 23-16 and cut the Gamecocks lead to 10.
“We won the third quarter,” Moren said. “Felt like the momentum was definitely on our side throughout.”
Indiana continued to utilize the momentum throughout the fourth quarter, starting with a bucket in the post from Holmes to cut the lead to eight. Parrish hit a shot from outside the arc to make it 70-65.
South Carolina finally got its first bucket of the quarter from senior center Kamilla Cardoso in the paint to make it 67-60. Garzon cut into the paint from a drive and once again shortened the lead to five.
At the 4-minute mark, South Carolina had an 8-point lead. Scalia passed the ball to Moore-McNeil, who then swung it to Parrish for another triple knocked down. Scalia hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to four.
Holmes drove into the open lane after Cardoso lost her coverage. Suddenly, it was 74-72. A 22-point deficit became two.
With 58.7 seconds to go, South Carolina sophomore guard Raven Johnson inbounded the ball to Cardoso in the arc. Cardoso swung it back to Johnson who the 3-point shot that iced the game. Indiana finished its season with a 26-6 record and 15-3 in the Big Ten.
Despite the loss to the best team in the nation, the Hoosiers did not wane under pressure and performed and proved that they could do what had been a struggle throughout the season: competing with the best teams on the road.
“I think it says a lot about Indiana,” Moore-McNeil said. “We’re never going to quit, we’re a tough team and we’re always going to fight.”
