Indiana started Sunday’s game against No. 22 Michigan State running out to a 10-3 lead in five minutes. Using the momentum they got from their previous win over No. 8 Ohio State Thursday night, it looked like the Hoosiers were in control.
Yet Michigan State's lockdown defense and Indiana’s poor shooting determined the game to go the Spartans’ way. Coming off a two-game losing skid on the road in California, Michigan State got back in the win column with a 73-63 win over the Hoosiers.
The quick-start lead fell apart when the Hoosiers had four turnovers in three minutes, allowing Michigan State to get right back into the game. Hoosier turnovers put the Spartans in control for the second half of the first quarter as they went on a 12-0 run to end the quarter.
Early on, Indiana was having a hard time hitting their usual 3-point shots, which then turned into them using the paint as a source of points. The Hoosiers shot 27% from beyond the arc, with 32 points coming in the paint. They were working with back cuts to the rim and moving the ball toward the paint instead of typically looking for their shot.
The Hoosiers average 7.8 3-pointers per game, and when they can't find their rhythm, it alters the entire game style.
“I think the difference today was our aggression,” guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said. “We were a little bit passive at times, especially in the first half, which should never be the case. We didn't see a few shots go in, so we kind of drew back in terms of being aggressive.”
Moore-McNeil finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, another double-double.
Both Moore-McNeil and head coach Teri Moren said the Hoosiers didn't have the right mentality Sunday afternoon, whether it was their aggressiveness on the court or the energy they were putting in.
“I felt like our spirit and our energy level was not where it needed to be,” Moren said.
But the Spartans weren't shooting well from beyond the arc either, as they shot 20%, going 5-for-25 from deep. Instead, they used paint for most of their baskets, scoring 40 points down low. They also transitioned from defense into offense with 20 fastbreak points on 18 Indiana turnovers.
Michigan State leads the Big Ten in turnover percentage, averaging 12.8 steals and 5.4 blocks per game. The physicality of the Spartans defense constantly poking at the ball and face-guarding up and down the court startled Indiana into playing a brand of basketball they didn't want to.
Since shooting wasn't a response, Indiana worked the ball into the paint to senior forward Karoline Striplin, who was a constant source of points. Striplin finished with 14 points and five rebounds as she went up against junior forward Grace VanSlooten in a battle in the paint. Both players entered foul trouble as the game progressed from the physicality down low. VanSlooten finished with 17 points and five rebounds, leading the Spartans.
The Hoosier guards seemed extremely frustrated at times to the point where Moore-McNeil constantly had her hands on her head every time the ball was turned over.
“A lot of times when you’re either behind or you’ve fallen behind, it's because that other team has gotten more shot attempts. It's easy math,” Moren said. “I’m not great at math but I understand when you turn the ball over and you don't get shots and you give it to the other team, there's a good likelihood that they're gonna get more shots than you.”
Other guard Sydney Parrish had an unusually quiet game where she was ice-cold shooting. Parrish finished with six points on 2-for-10 shooting.
It wasn't until the final quarter that the Hoosiers found a spark as they went on a 10-0 run for nearly four minutes and got within four points. The late push wasn't enough to finish the comeback, as they couldn't stop the Spartans’ offense. Junior guard Shay Ciezki was a big part of the comeback, adding 13 points, four assists and four steals.
In February, the Hoosiers went 0-3 on the road in winnable games that slipped away. The next game for Indiana is against No. 21 Maryland on Thursday night. It is also the final game inside Assembly Hall for Parrish, Moore-McNeil and Striplin.
“Understanding and realizing this is our last go around in Assembly Hall so not to add any pressure to us, but to understand it’s Assembly,” Moore-McNeil said. “We protect our house, and we just came off a loss so we should play pissed off.”
Gallery: Indiana vs Ohio State
