“Disappointed,” was how Indiana University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Teri Moren began her post game conference following IU’s first Big Ten loss of the year, falling in Ann Arbor to #6 Michigan, 65-50. Indiana had not played since their overtime win at Purdue, 15 days prior, due to health and safety protocols within both their program and that of Illinois. But the Hoosiers take full responsibility for their play against the Wolverines, shooting just 33% from the field, and producing only 5 offensive rebounds.
“You’re gonna have fatigue within a game, especially coming off of 10 days off or more, but I’m not going to give us any excuse,” said Senior Guard Nicole Cardano-Hillary, who struggled on offense, but had 8 steals and did an amazing job of slowing down Michigan’s high-power offense.
Coach Moren added, “We’re not a program that makes excuses, but I did think that we looked like a team that had been off for a couple of weeks.”
Indeed, the Hoosiers had a slow start and looked sluggish at times, especially toward the tail end of the 3rd quarter, when Michigan completely dominated in the paint. “We don’t back down, we’re gonna keep fighting,” said Cardano-Hillary. The Hoosiers did keep fighting for the entire 40 minutes in their first Big Ten regular season loss dating back to Ohio State in January of 2021.
And fans are aware of the resilience of this year’s Hoosiers. The motto has been, ‘if there’s time left on the clock, we still have a chance to win’. Hard fought games and amazing come from behind victories are within the wheelhouse of this team. They didn’t have it in them to overcome the deficit at Michigan earlier this week, but their attitude speaks volumes.
Tonight, the Hoosiers return to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for the first time since January 13th, to host Minnesota at 7pm. Minnesota is fresh off a border rivalry win over Wisconsin on Sunday, 57-55. Junior Guard Sara Scalia leads the way, averaging16.1 points per game along with Graduate Guard Deja Winters’s 11.5 points per game. Redshirt Junior Forward Kadiatou Sissoko leads on the glass with 5.6 boards per game. The Gophers (10-12, 3-7) average 69.0 points per game and shoot 40.9 percent as a team.
Minnesota Leads the overall series 37-34, although IU has won four-consecutive games against the Golden Gophers, including the only meeting last season. It has also won seven of the last eight, dating back to the 2015-16 season.
Indiana will look to be more aggressive on the boards tonight, and contain both Scalia and All-Big Ten player, Jasmine Powell. On offense, the Hoosiers will need to demonstrate early the ability to score from the post, opening up the mid-range availability of Grace Berger and Ali Patberg. Coach Moren will be aiming to hold the Gophers to less than 60 points and for her team stay within less than 11 turnovers.
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