COLUMBIA, S.C. – Indiana’s season came to a close following a hard-fought 64-53 loss to No. 1 seed South Carolina on Sunday. After holding a one-point advantage heading into the halftime break, the Hoosiers fell behind the defending national champions quickly in the third, and were unable to make up the deficit in the last 10 minutes.
The Gamecocks’ dominance in the frontcourt was too much to handle
After a look at the box score, this one is pretty clear. South Carolina had 30 paint points to Indiana’s 22, and out-rebounded the Hoosiers 37-27 (and 8-2 on the offensive glass). But that advantage went further than just the numbers.
From the outset, whenever Indiana’s guards wanted to feed Karoline Striplin or Lilly Meister down low, they often found their target completely closed off in the post. When the guards wanted to go downhill, they were met with force. Shay Ciezki struggled to get going on drives to the lane, and had her shot attempts blocked four times. Along with that, neither Striplin or Meister ended the game with an offensive board.
The third quarter made all the difference
Heading into halftime, Indiana had to feel good about its position. The Hoosiers had hit a couple crowd-silencing 3s and had a one-point advantage. They got outscored by two in the second quarter, but it seemed like they were in the driver’s seat.
Then, the Gamecocks roared to life.
After missing plenty of easy opportunities and failing to take care of the ball, South Carolina shot 11-for-16 from the floor in the third quarter, and brought its fans into a deafening roar after a steal, a block and a fast-break 3-pointer that shifted the momentum and stretched the lead to 12. After that point, with around 15 minutes left in the game, the crowd was a factor every step of the way.
It’s hard to play at a true road environment in March
The past three years, Indiana has had the benefit of playing in front of its home fans in the first two rounds of March Madness. On Sunday, they got to experience the other side of the coin. South Carolina’s fans completely filled the lower bowl of Colonial Life Arena, and showed up strong in the upper sections, with a listed attendance of 12,332 people. To Indiana head coach Teri Moren, home fans make a major difference.
“I think we've got to get to a point where we sort of mirror what the guys do and have those neutral sites because matchups matter, but home-court advantage matters,” Moren said.
As Indiana heads into its offseason, and sees program cornerstones including Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish depart, it will evaluate its options in the portal and look a little bit different when the 2025-26 season begins.
