“Give Nebraska a tremendous amount of credit tonight,” said Indiana University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Teri Moren, following the game on Monday evening. The Cornhuskers could do little wrong, and IU was struggling in about every way imaginable. Indiana had come off of a pair of demonstrative wins in the preceding days, over Illinois and Michigan State, and were on the road against a determined Nebraska team, on just a day’s rest.
“Offensively, [the Cornhuskers] were super aggressive off the bounce,” Coach Moren described the early pace set by Nebraska in the 72-55 loss. Indiana jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but after the first 5 minutes of play, it appeared as if IU would be playing a game of catch-up from then on.
Nebraska was moving the ball with ease, working it inside for easy lay-ups, and opening up the perimeter game, where they would go on to hit 7-15 for the night. And, Nebraska was crashing the boards hard, significantly outrebounding Indiana, providing themselves numerous second chance opportunities.
IU would trail by 8 at half, and for the remainder of the game would not get any closer than a four-point deficit. In the 4th quarter, Indiana trailed by 21, the largest lead any team has had against the Hoosiers this season. Nebraska’s leading player, Sophomore Guard Jaz Shelley, scored 14 points including 3-7 from beyond the arc. She added 6 rebounds and 3 steals for the evening.
In a game where the offense was missing (Indiana shot just 32% from the field, 2-23 from 3-point territory, and just 7-13 from the free throw line), the Hoosiers really needed their defense to step up strong. It did not.
“We really needed our defense to be great tonight against a team that is as good and talented as any team in the league,” said Coach Moren. “Disappointed for sure, but we have to lick our wounds quickly, get back home, and get ready for Northwestern.”
And Indiana will need to be 100% ready for Northwestern, a team on the edge for a NCAA Tournament bid, who is coming off of a stunning overtime defeat of 4th nationally ranked Michigan.
During that game, the Wildcats played great defense, stealing the ball 10 times, and holding the Wolverines to 35% shooting. On offense, Northwestern moved the ball flawlessly, amassing 20 assists during the game. 13 of those assists came from Northwestern’s standout Senior Guard, Veronica Burton. Burton is averaging 18 points per game along with 5.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists. Northwestern comes into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall tonight at 6pm with 14-9 record, 6-6 against Big Ten competition.
Indiana now stands at 18-4 overall and 10-2 in the Big Ten, with 4 games to go. Tonight, will be the Hoosiers’ third game in a stretch of 6 games in 12 days, to wind up the season. After tonight’s game against Northwestern, Indiana will play #22 Iowa twice, and close out the regular season with #13 Maryland, on the road.
“In the Big Ten when you’re playing such good opponents, night in and night out, it can get a little exhausting, especially physical,” said Senior Guard Grace Berger. “But at the end of the day, we love playing basketball, and I think I speak for my teammates when I say we’d play a game every single day if we could.”
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