For Indiana women’s basketball, this season’s journey will live to see another day.
Ninth-seeded IU took down No. 8 seed Utah, 76-68, on Friday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers (20-12) advance to the second round, where they’ll most likely face No. 1 seed South Carolina.
This gave Indiana its 20th win for the 10th consecutive season, and it also marked the program’s sixth straight postseason with an NCAA Tournament victory.
The game was tied at both the end of the first quarter and at halftime. Utah (22-9) threatened to create some separation in the second quarter, on a 9-0 run over two minutes to take a six-point lead. But Indiana held off that momentum and finished the period on a 9-3 run to level the score.
Both teams have relied on strong 3-point shooting this season, but both sides struggled from beyond the arc in the first half — IU shot 27.3 percent, while Utah shot 23.1 percent. Teri Moren adjusted by going away from the 3-point line and working the ball inside more frequently, and it worked. Indiana broke the game open in the third quarter with a 15-3 run across a nearly five-minute span in the middle of the period.
IU shot a whopping 83.3 percent from the field and went 6 for 7 at the foul line in the third quarter, building an 11-point lead going into the final quarter. The Hoosiers’ 27 points in the third period was their most in a quarter since their 27-point fourth quarter at Michigan State on Feb. 23, and they haven’t topped that figure in a quarter since their 30-point first quarter against Purdue on Feb. 15.
The Utes clawed back in the final period, cutting Indiana’s lead down to as little as four. But IU’s big third quarter left them with too big a deficit to overcome.
Junior Shay Ciezki stepped up for the Hoosiers when they needed some buckets. The Penn State transfer scored 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including a 2-for-3 mark from 3-point range. The guard added two rebounds and three assists with five turnovers.
Junior Lilly Meister gave IU some really solid minutes off the bench on Friday. The forward shot 5 for 5 from the field for 11 points, her highest scoring output in nearly three months. Eight of those points came in the first half, when Indiana’s offense didn’t have a ton else working well.
Junior Yarden Garzon also took advantage of Indiana’s shift to the paint in the second half with some good inside looks. The Israeli finished with a team-high 17 points on a 6-for-12 clip, and she grabbed seven rebounds. 12 of the forward’s points came in the second half.
Sydney Parrish didn’t settle into the game early on, and she fouled out in the fourth quarter. But the graduate student still contributed eight points with a team-high eight rebounds, along with four assists.
Graduate student Chloe Moore-McNeil also enjoyed a solid performance, with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, a team-high eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
Senior Karoline Striplin chipped in 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
Jules LaMendola missed the game with a foot injury, and Moren said after the game that the sophomore will be out for the rest of the NCAA Tournament.
For complete coverage of IU women’s basketball, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
