For the first time since 1994, Indiana women's basketball hosted the No. 1 team in the nation at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Heading into the matchup, the program was 0-5 against top-ranked teams in the country, including the loss against South Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen last season. Now, the most recent loss was Saturday to the top-ranked UCLA Bruins, 73-62.
Indiana started Big Ten play hot, blowing by two conference opponents and on a six-game winning streak, but they were tasked with welcoming the daunting undefeated UCLA Bruins.
Head coach Teri Moren has often emphasized that her squad needs an energetic start to stay in a game. Yet, against the Bruins, they didn't have that. Within the first five minutes, the Hoosiers committed multiple offensive fouls due to illegal screens and lost many opportunities for easy baskets. Shots were not falling for Indiana, while UCLA used its size and wingspan to its advantage on both court ends.
A spark of energy in the final minutes of the first quarter resulted in a Hoosiers’ 9-0 run to make it a two-point game as the Indiana defense crashed the paint to double team and forced UCLA to take tough shots.
However, the second quarter was Indiana's ultimate downfall. It wasn’t until the two-minute mark of the frame that senior forward Karoline Striplin recorded Indiana’s first field goal of the quarter.
“I thought the second quarter was really tough for us, and I think part of it was UCLA,” Moren said. “I thought they sped us up, and we had four moving screens inside of that so that's a thing we got to go back and get better.”
The Hoosiers had seven turnovers and seven fouls in the second quarter alone. Meanwhile, the Bruins dominated the glass and points and built a comfortable 12-point lead to head into the half.
The significant game-changer for UCLA was their star junior forward Lauren Betts, who led all scorers and rebounders with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Neither forwards junior Lilly Meister nor Striplin could maintain Betts in the paint. Whether it was Betts drawing a foul on the inbound pass, off-the-ball foul, over-the-back foul or a plain shooting foul, it seemed that Betts was impacting the game with just her presence on the court. At one point, Moren had her team double and triple-teaming in the paint, forcing Betts to use her playmaking ability to find her open teammates for easy shots, but it still didn't help Indiana.
“Lilly and Strip did everything they could," Moren said. "We were trying to push her out, trying to keep her away from the low block and trying to get the leverage from our legs. We were trying to crowd her as much as we could off other players, but we were trying to deter the ball from coming inside.”
Coming into the second half down a dozen, Indiana found what they were looking for out of the backcourt of graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil and junior guard Shay Ciezki. After a quiet first half from the two, they started to create shot opportunities for themselves and get points on the board. The guard combo finished with 23 points combined.
Even with the backcourt showing up, Indiana still could not find a response for the dominant force in the paint. The Bruins sped up Indiana’s offense, forcing them to play a style of basketball they did not want to play all season long, ultimately making them uncomfortable on their own court. UCLA had 40 points in the paint compared to Indiana’s 28.
Graduate student forward Sydney Parrish was limited all game long as she was in foul trouble as early as the first quarter and fouled out early in the fourth quarter; she was held to only two points. With Indiana’s reliable shooter limited to 29 minutes, they looked to junior guard Yarden Garzon, who stepped up and finished with 19 points despite a low-percentage shooting performance (6-for-19, 1-for-8 from distance).
For the remainder of the second half, Indiana kept up with the Bruins offensively and continued to try to crawl back, but they couldn't finish on both ends of the court. At one point, both teams traded baskets, yet Indiana’s fouls gave UCLA a considerable advantage in the long run.
Although down for the remainder of the game, Indiana never stopped fighting and continued to dive for loose balls and keep the Bruins on their toes. UCLA averaged a scoring margin of 31.4 points, but the Hoosiers kept it within 10 points for most of the game.
“I think we’re still a really good basketball team,” Moren said. “Despite those numbers there's a fight to this group, a cohesiveness. They’re connected because I’ve watched them shoot it better, I’ve watched them take care of the ball better and give credit to UCLA, but were still one of the best teams in the Big Ten.”
Now sitting at 10-4 (2-1), Indiana will travel to Evanston, Illinois to play against Northwestern on Wednesday, Jan. 8, with tip-off at 8 p.m.
