INDIANAPOLIS — While Indiana women’s basketball completed a remarkable comeback against Nebraska on Wednesday, it couldn’t replicate that energy a day later.
The Hoosiers fell behind No. 11 Ohio State in the second quarter of Thursday’s second-round Big Ten Tournament game. They didn’t go down without a fight, but they never showed the juice needed to make OSU uncomfortable. The Buckeyes ran away with an 83-59 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Indiana (18-14) entered this contest on a four-game winning streak, and with seven wins in its last nine games. But Ohio State (25-6) made clear the sizable gap between the two teams on Thursday. The Buckeyes started cold and IU built an early 12-6 lead, but OSU tied the game up by the end of the first quarter.
The Hoosiers never recovered.
“We are certainly disappointed. I just think that one of the things that Ohio State can do is they can speed you up,” IU head coach Teri Moren said after the game. “You have to put points on the board in order to beat a team like Ohio State, and then we just didn’t have enough to keep them off the offensive glass, which again, we knew going into it there were certain areas that we just couldn’t allow a lot of extra points, and it was off the rebound, the free-throw line, and off our turnovers.”
They trailed 36-24 at halftime, with redshirt sophomore Lenée Beaumont already at four fouls and freshman Nevaeh Caffey at three. Ohio State outscored Indiana 24-12 in the second quarter, and then 25-16 in the third quarter, as Teri Moren’s team shot 1 for 10 from 3-point range in those two quarters.
OSU also built a massive rebounding advantage after the first quarter. IU out-rebounded the Buckeyes 12-9 in the first period, but Ohio State held a 36-21 edge from there. The Hoosiers gave up 19 offensive rebounds, tied for the second-most they’ve allowed in a game all year.
IU’s offense just never got into a groove, which Moren chalked up to Ohio State’s press defense.
“It takes you out of any kind of offensive flow, offensive rhythm. Unless you can get a hit ahead to a layup, they do such a great job of recovering and getting back. Then they force you to have to play in the half-court as well. They switch everything. They’re disruptive,” Moren said. “They got to balls way faster than we did, even those loose balls. They’re terrific. When you think about Ohio State, you think about, first and foremost, their pressure. It’s outstanding.”
Freshman Maya Makalusky shot 5 for 12 from 3-point range and 6 for 7 at the foul line for a team-high 21 points. Senior Shay Ciezki had trouble getting into a rhythm, shooting 6 for 20 from the field and 0 for 4 from 3-point range for 12 points. That’s her lowest scoring output in any contest this year except for the UCLA game, when she exited with an injury in the first quarter. Caffey finished with 10 points despite shooting 1 for 7 from the field. She went 8 for 10 at the foul line.
Despite the blowout loss, Indiana expressed pride in the way they recovered from an 0-10 start to Big Ten play to still qualify for the conference tournament. Makalusky said it shows the “grittiness” that Moren has instilled in her program.
“The resilience that they’ve shown has been, especially in the last month, has really been remarkable. This is a group that when you start the season, the Big Ten season, off the way we did, it would have been easy to just kind of throw the towel in, and we didn’t do that,” Moren said. “I’m not satisfied at all this season, and I think our players would echo that as well, but I am proud. I’m proud of what we fought, we continued to fight, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
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