After Slow First Quarter, Indiana Women's Basketball Defeats Norfolk State at Home
BLOOMINGTON Ind. — No. 4-ranked Indiana remains undefeated Tuesday night after shutting down Norfolk State 72-42 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall despite a slow start.
"One of the worries you have as a coach after such a big win, emotional win on Sunday night is that your team comes back a little flat," Indiana coach Teri Moren said after the win. "They couldn't really find any great rhythm offensively to really get us going, even though we had 22 assists."
Mackenzie Holmes and Aleksa Gulbe led the Hoosiers in scoring with 22 points each. Gulbe accomplished Moren's goal of achieving a double-double and had 11 rebounds. She hit 3-of-4 three-point attempts as well.
"Being a three-point shooter is definitely one of the things I've been working on," Gulbe said.
One thing that wasn't good for the Hoosiers is that they had a whopping 22 turnovers, about double of what they would prefer.
The first quarter was a struggle. The Hoosiers made only 3-for-9 on field goals in the first five and a half minutes and turned the ball over four times in the first quarter.
The good news was Norfolk State also had four turnovers and had shooting issues of its own, going 2-for-10 in the first half of the quarter.
Sophomores Kiandra Browne and Chloe Moore-McNeil came came off the bench for Indiana to quickly to relieve the struggling starters.
For a short spurt in the first quarter, the Spartans pulled ahead with less than two minutes on the clock from a Camille Downs three-pointer.
"We were being sloppy," Holmes said. "We knew they were going to come out aggressive, and we weren't great at handling that. I think we got better as the game went on."
Holmes carried the Hoosiers' offense and pulled her team back to the lead with a layup.
The second quarter's key word is "turnover." The Hoosiers had three in less than five minutes. Eventually, the No. 4 ranked team played with power feeding off of Holmes's second-chance layup to bring Indiana up by 10.
Even an off game isn't so off for Indiana. The team still managed to put up 22 points on the board before dominating the rest of the game.
In addition, there's nothing a little Teri Moren pep talk can't do. After the half, the Hoosiers came out of the locker room a new team.
"We felt like we were in control of the game, but we were sloppy, and that's what I said," Moren said. "We weren't as clean, as sharp offensively that we can be, and that's where I was disappointed. I just reminded them of what motions should look like and how we rep it everyday."
The talk must have contributed to Gulbe's motivation as she came out of the locker room with plenty of star power.
The Hoosiers closed its gap until it was past the point of no return for the Spartans going on a 21-0 run through the second and third quarters. Indiana totaled 22 assists, 47 rebounds and shot 27-for-53 for field goals
"They know they did a poor night tonight taking care of the basketball," Moren said. "Those are things we're going to have to fix."
Next, the Hoosiers head to Hammond, Conn. to face the Quinnipiac Bobcats for Indiana's last game before heading to the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Classic in Nassau, Bahamas.
Related stories on Indiana women's basketball
- INDIANA HOSTS NORFOLK STATE: The Hoosiers got a new No. 4 in front of its name after defeating then-No. 13 Kentucky. Tuesday, the Hoosiers welcome Norfolk State for its last home game of the month. CLICK HERE.
- INDIANA BEATS NO. 13 KENTUCKY AT HOME: Mackenzie Holmes led the Hoosiers to victory with a career-high 29 points. Grace Berger contributed a buzzer beater before the half catching the eyes of ESPN. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA GETS FIRST TEST VERSUS KENTUCKY: Teri Moren doesn't go for simple. She said she prepares a difficult schedule on purpose to prepare her team for competitive Big Ten games and of course, another NCAA tournament run. CLICK HERE.
