Teri Moren has her hands full with this team.
After a second half collapse, Indiana lost at Butler on Wednesday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, their second straight loss to a team they were heavily favored to beat.
Leading 28-26 at the break, the Hoosiers scored just 18 points in the second half while shooting 29.6% from the field with seven turnovers. They didn’t attempt a free throw in the second half.
Moren’s squad played good defense throughout, but the lack of any semblance of offensive efficiency eventually caught up with them.
Butler pulled away in the final minutes and won it, 56-46.
Shay Ciezki led IU with 11 points, but she also committed five turnovers. Yarden Garzon added 10 points.
Veteran wing Sydney Parrish couldn’t get into a shooting rhythm, making just 1-of-7 from long range, and center Lilly Meister made just 1-of-8 from two.
Meister’s struggles were part of a larger story, as IU made just 11-of-33 (33.3%) from two-point range. And the Hoosiers committed 16 turnovers on the night against just six assists.
For a brief glimmer in the first half IU looked like the program we’ve grown accustomed to over under Moren. Indiana was able to pull ahead in the second quarter by as many as six, forcing a Butler timeout with 4:26 on a second-chance opportunity by Parrish. The Hoosiers held Butler to 35.1% shooting from the field for the game, and forced 16 Bulldog turnovers.
But Indiana couldn’t sustain any momentum in this one.
“We’re not taking care of the ball, not shooting the ball particularly well,” Moren said. “I thought defensively there were some moments when we were really good, but we couldn’t finish plays, gave up 11 offensive rebounds.
“We need to play better than we’ve been playing, and we will.”
The loss at Butler comes after a home loss to Harvard last week. Both teams are ranked outside the Bart Torvik top-90.
Things are about to get much more challenging for Indiana (1-2), as traditional national power AP No. 24 / Torvik No. 14 Stanford (3-0) comes to Bloomington on Sunday.
This story will be updated.
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