Toughness. That’s what this IU women’s basketball team wants to be remembered by, and toughness is exactly what this group showed on Friday afternoon against No. 2 USC in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals despite an 84-79 loss.
It was a tall task to go up against the top-seeded USC Trojans but this is what the Hoosiers wanted. Over the last few weeks, this group has embraced the challenges that have come their way. In fact, resiliency is what this team has shown all season. So, even when things got tough on Friday, Indiana didn’t bow down, and it was never a thought that crossed anyones mind either.
“They’re really good, they’re really well-coached, and they’re old, right,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said after the game. ” (Yarden) Garzon is old. Chloe Moore-McNeil is old. (Sydney) Parrish is old — veteran. I don’t mean old, but veteran. Kids like that are not going to go out without a really tough fight. They’re excellent players, and I thought we had to adjust.”
This was the second matchup the two teams had this season. The first was in Bloomington, and in numerous ways Friday’s matchup very much resembled the one two months ago. There were eight lead changes in matchup number one and on Friday, there were nine. Both teams rarely let the other get comfortable with a one or two possession lead — with neither team leading by double-digits all afternoon.
After trailing by six quickly into the second half, Indiana went on a quick 8-0 spurt to take the lead. Then it was USC that answered — extending their lead to seven on two different occasions. But that toughness and resiliency of IU women’s basketball showed back up yet again, finding an answer and response to every USC run, making it just a two-point game going into the fourth.
Despite the deficit staying at just two points multiple different times, Indiana was never able to re-take the lead. But, they never let up either.
That toughness comes from all of the tough early season losses, or close wins. Indiana played three ranked opponents in the non-conference slate, going 2-1 in those games. They also dropped back-to-back games against Harvard and Butler in uncanny fashion as well.
After the first month of the season, IU was just 4-3 overall.
“I would just say learning from our losses,” IU guard Shay Ciezki said. “We had some early ones at the beginning of the season that I thought that we really learned from and grew from. It shows when we play these bigger teams.”
While the toughness was — and has been there — the execution was what failed Indiana on Friday. The Hoosiers were just 9-of-27 on layups and had 15 turnovers, including eight live-ball turnovers. That shows just how close Indiana is to truly breaking through. And they know it.
“Are we gelling at the right time? We knew the year was going to kind of be — there was going to be ebbs and flows in it, but again, we’ve got a veteran team,” IU head coach Teri Moren said. “We’ve got an experienced team. We’ve had some tough luck throughout. We’ve had some challenges. Whether it was some on the floor, some off the floor and some just things that aren’t really basketball related but can disrupt what our normal is.”
“I feel like we want everybody to know we are tough. Every game, no matter who we’re going to play, we want to win the game,” Indiana forward Yarden Garzon added. “No matter what’s your name, what you have on your chest, we’re going to want to win this game.”
So despite the end of the run in the Big Ten Tournament, IU enters the NCAA Tournament battle tested. The Hoosiers have played 10 ranked opponents this year, going 4-6 with three single-digit losses.
Now with some upcoming rest, IU women’s basketball has its eyes set on a March run. Because, no matter what their record says or record is against ranked opponents, the fight and toughness of this group is their identity. And that’s something that will win games in March and more importantly, keep you in games.
And that’s what Indiana is going to hang its hat on in the coming weeks.
“I feel like as long as we go out there and give everything we can, I believe in us a lot,” Garzon said. “I believe we can beat everybody.”
“I know this about these guys,” Moren added. “They can play with anybody in the country.”
