Indiana women’s basketball fell to No. 14 Iowa 56-53 on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Below are three quick reasons why the Hoosiers lost, along with highlights, final stats, and a few quotes.
IU (11-7, 0-6) is back in action on Wednesday at home against Washington.
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1. A disastrous third quarter – The Hoosiers have had some notably bad quarters so far this season, and their third quarter on Sunday was another example. IU struggled to get open looks on the offensive end, hitting just two of its 13 attempts from the field. Iowa’s defense particularly focused on Ciezki, who missed all five of her attempts and had three of Indiana’s five turnovers in the period. The Hawkeyes capitalized with a 17-0 run that spanned nearly eight minutes. By the end of the quarter, the Hoosiers’ 35-19 lead had been cut to 39-38.
2. 3-point shooting struggles – Iowa’s aggressive defense on the perimeter gave IU problems across the board, but 3-point shooting was a particular struggle. Indiana finished 2 of 19 from beyond the arc tonight. The Hoosiers struggled to get clean looks for some of their usual shooters, which was a key factor in the loss. Maya Makalusky went 0 for 4 from long range and had a few of her attempts blocked. Shay Ciezki hit one 3-pointer, but that was on 10 shots. Nevaeh Caffey made the other with minimal time remaining.
3. Offense still searching for other contributors – Teri Moren hasn’t shied away from admitting a bulk of Indiana’s production is going to come from Ciezki. With the return of Zania Socka-Nguemen, some of that pressure may be alleviated, but the Hoosiers need other contributors besides Ciezki to carry the load. Ciezki finished with 21 points on 9-of-24 shooting, while ‘Z’ added 12 of her own. Only four other players scored at all. Lenée Beaumont particularly struggled, shooting just 2 for 11 for five points.
Final stats
Highlights
Quotes
Teri Moren on third quarter struggles: “We’re trying. We’re not dismissing it, we know it’s been an issues for us and so we’re trying to correct it. But, I don’t have an answer for why we went away, and that’s focus. That’s me helping them. I have to do a better job, and I will. But they have to do what we ask them to do also. I thought in the first hald they executed what we wanted to do defensively really well. It just did not show up in the second half.”
Moren on Lenee Beaumont’s lack of offense: “We have clearly told her in film sessions, off the floor, on the floor, in practice, how valuable she is and how much we need here to be a scoring threat for us. We have to figure out how to get her going. I’ve said this, sometimes ‘Beau’ can be her worst enemy, right? In terms of her hesitation, taking shots. I think when she misses a few, I think that really kind of plays with her confidence, if you will. So she’s gonna have to get past that, because the best players, as I always have mentioned, a shooter like her, offensively gifted like her, have to have a short memory.”
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