A miserable night shooting the basketball means things are now tighter at the top of the Big Ten standings.
First place Indiana shot just 31.9 percent from the field overall and 8.7 percent (2-of-23) from behind-the-arc against Nebraska and fell 72-55 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Monday evening.
Grace Berger led IU with 20 points, but she had little help. Fellow starters Ali Patberg, Nicole Cardano-Hillary, Aleksa Gulbe and Kiandra Browne combined to go just 11-of-49 overall and 1-of-19 from three.
“We were trying to get them into a lot of plug scenarios and really try to go at their bigs and it just seemed like there was no place for our guards to go,” head coach Teri Moren said of her team’s offensive struggles. “Then we had to rely on outside shooting and short jump shots and missed way too many layups. I thought we had some good looks; they just didn’t go down and unfortunately you have those nights.”
After trailing by as much as 12, IU was behind just 52-47 after three quarters. But the Hoosiers made just 3-of-21 shots in the fourth and the Nebraska lead snowballed. The loss snaps a four game winning streak, but Indiana (18-4, 10-2) still leads in the conference standings.
The Cornhuskers were the first team to top the 70 point mark this season against Indiana.
“I thought offensively, they were super aggressive off the bounce,” Moren said. “We didn’t do a good enough job at being able to keep our man in front of us throughout the night.
“We really needed our defense to be great for us against a team that obviously is good, talented as any team in the league.
“Disappointed, for sure, but we have to lick our wounds quickly, get back home and get ready for Northwestern.”
UP NEXT
Indiana is back in action on Thursday night at home against Northwestern for its annual Pink Game. Tipoff against the Wildcats is set for 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
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