After more than week since its last game, Indiana women’s basketball entered Thursday’s contest at No. 12 Ohio State well-rested.
But the time off didn’t prevent the Hoosiers from seeing a very familiar script play out on the court.
Indiana led by 15 points in the first quarter, but let it slip away. The Buckeyes came back and handed Teri Moren’s team an 81-67 defeat, its seventh in a row.
IU (11-9, 0-8 Big Ten) didn’t maintain its cushion at The Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio for long. Ohio State (18-2, 7-1) cut the 19-4 deficit with 4:32 left in the opening period to 21-17 by the end of the quarter. The Hoosiers held off OSU in the second quarter, and they closed the period on a 13-6 run over the last 3:35 of the first half to take a 10-point lead into halftime.
But throughout Big Ten play so far this year, Moren’s group has found ways to lose. Though it’s not always the same things every game, there are consistent themes. And Thursday saw multiple of those recurring problems surface.
The Hoosiers committed a whopping 26 turnovers, including 15 in the second half. Ohio State has long given Moren’s teams problems with its press defense, and this year’s Buckeyes entered Thursday ranked 14th in the country with 23.3 turnovers forced per game.
And foul trouble plagued IU yet again. This turned into a physical game, and four of Indiana’s five starters entered the fourth quarter with three fouls. Shay Ciezki, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, fouled out midway through the final period, and Caffey and Beaumont had to navigate four fouls for most of the quarter.
OSU tied the game for the first time with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter, and the Buckeyes dominated the rest of the way. Kevin McGuff’s group outscored Indiana 34-20 from that point.
Beaumont gave IU a big first half, with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. But she couldn’t sustain it, with only four points after halftime. Ciezki fared similarly: 14 points in the first half, but only five in the second half. Zania Socka-Nguemen recorded a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.
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