Down two starters and with a thin bench, No. 6 Indiana never gave up in West Lafayette on Sunday afternoon.
But it didn’t look good late.
The Hoosiers trailed by six with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter but rallied to send the game into overtime.
Ali Patberg hit a 3-pointer to pull IU to within one in regulation, and another to put the Hoosiers up by six in overtime. But she injured her ankle on the latter three and also had to come out of the game, becoming the third starter unavailable for the Hoosiers.
But despite the obstacles Indiana was able to pull away in the overtime for the 73-68 win.
“As I said to my kids, they all had to make a play at some point whether it was scoring the ball or get a big defensive stop,” head coach Teri Moren said after the game.
“I thought Aleksa Gulbe was really big. I thought Grace Berger really showed up in the third, fourth quarter especially.”
“They were relentless and as I always say to them, as long as there’s time on the clock for us, we’re always going to be in the game because I have a group of people in that locker room that will just not quit.”
Berger led IU with 24 points and had 10 in the last 1:46 of regulation to fuel the rally. Gulbe had 21 points and a team high nine rebounds. She hit a 3-pointer to open the overtime scoring. Patberg’s three was the next overtime score as IU pulled out to the early lead in the extra session and never looked back.
The win was IU’s sixth straight over Purdue and ninth in ten tries as Moren continues to torture her alma mater. The Hoosiers improved to 14-2 overall on the season and 6-0 in the Big Ten.
Starting center and leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes was out for the second straight game with a knee injury, and starting point guard Nicole Cardano-Hillary was out due to health and safety protocols.
NOTABLE
- The Hoosiers extend their win streak in the annual Barn Burner series to six games, dating back to 2017.
- Win streaks were also kept intact for the Hoosiers, who won its ninth-straight game this season, 12th-straight road game and 15th consecutive Big Ten game.
- A total of four players scored in double figures with Chloe Moore-McNeil and Patberg each adding 10 points.
- Indiana shot 42.7 percent for the game and narrowly won the margin on the boards, 42-40.
- Defensively, IU limited Purdue to a 38.2 field goal percentage on the afternoon and held its 16th opponent of the season to less than 70 points.
UP NEXT
Indiana returns home to host Michigan State in the annual Head to the Hall game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are just $1 for all fans online or at the door.
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