Indiana Earns Signature Win Over No. 8 Ohio State, 71-61

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Some teams take the “it’s just another game” approach when facing a highly ranked opponent.

But Indiana guard Shay Ciezki said the Hoosiers didn’t downplay the fact that Ohio State was ranked eighth in the country coming into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Thursday. Their effort during the game and emotional celebrations after the 71-61 victory certainly showed that.

“We just went out there and played our hardest and played our game,” Ciezki said. “That was the biggest thing. We stuck with the game plan, stuck with each other. The game had a lot of ups and downs, but we just stayed in it and got the dub.’’

With this win, Indiana improves to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in Big Ten play, good for a sixth-place tie in the conference standings.

Ciezki, Yarden Garzon and Sydney Parrish led the Hoosiers with 16 points apiece. They powered an efficient shooting night, as Indiana finished over 50% from the field and from 3-point range and shot 85.7% from the free throw line.

Parrish said Indiana has lost to Ohio State in the past because of its press, so it would be important to handle that better this time around. It was a major emphasis in practice, and early on, the Hoosiers broke it with ease. Indiana found success with long-range and cross-court passes that got the Buckeyes out of position, leading to four layups in its first four possessions against the press.

Indiana coach Teri Moren wanted her team to be aggressive against the press, and Parrish emphasized to her teammates that they couldn’t just settle for 3-pointers – they had to attack the basket. After preparing hard for the press in practice, Moren felt the Hoosiers were ready to conquer it and more focused because of their prior downfalls.

Moren said the Hoosiers were brilliant against the press, aside from 10 fourth-quarter turnovers after just 11 turnovers in the first three quarters. Ohio State scored 20 points off turnovers, but that didn’t wind up being too costly as Indiana had already built a double-digit lead.

“We knew it was going to take something extra special,” Moren said. “I’m so happy for our kids because they know that they have it in them, but to see how tonight, especially how they handled themselves against the press … I thought being able to do that, and Ohio State taking off the press, I thought that gave us a lot of confidence that, yeah, we can get this thing done.”

Everything was working for Indiana to start the game as it made nine of its first 10 shots from the field. The Hoosiers ran plays to get mismatches on the block against starting center Karoline Striplin, who made her first three shots. A Sydney Parrish 3-pointer capped off the hot start, forcing an Ohio State timeout as Indiana led 21-15 with 3:52 left in the first quarter.

Efficient offense gave Indiana its early lead, and stingy defense closed out the quarter. Ohio State went scoreless in the final 3:08 of the quarter, including a turnover and missing its final five shots.

The Hoosiers took a 26-17 lead into the second quarter, but Ohio State wouldn’t go away easily. The Buckeyes opened the quarter on a 9-0 run, tying the game 26-26 with a layup and a 3-pointer by Cotie McMahon on back-to-back possessions.

Moren called a timeout in hopes of stopping that run at the 7:30 mark, and it worked to perfection. Garzon assisted Moore-McNeil for a 3-pointer on the first possession out of the timeout, and Ciezki knocked down another one shortly after.

“I don’t think we panicked,” Parrish said. “And I think that showed a lot of growth for us from games in the past. I think we’ve come out in games and taken the lead, and then they come back and tie it up and we’ve kind of let it go from there. But we showed a lot of growth today just being able to handle the pressure and showing maturity. We talked a lot about that in the locker room at halftime, and that was good to see from us.”

The timeout also came with renewed pressure on the defensive end. Indiana’s defense allowed just one field goal in the final 7:30, a jumper by Cambridge at the 3:42 mark. Although Ohio State had just three turnovers in the third quarter, it struggled to consistently find open looks.

The Hoosiers closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 40-28 lead over the nation’s eighth-ranked team.

Ohio State broke the drought with a Cambridge 3-pointer to start the second half, but Indiana’s strong defensive effort from the first half carried over as Ohio State shot just 33.3% in the third quarter. The Hoosiers gave up just 11 points in the middle 20 minutes of the game.

Indiana played a bit more zone defense than it had all year in an effort to keep Ohio State off balance with different defensive coverages. Moren said Indiana doesn’t spend a lot of time on the zone, but executing it tonight was crucial.

Striplin continued to seal off her defenders on the block with Indiana’s first two baskets of the third quarter. She also had a good sense for when the Ohio State defense was collapsing on her, kicking it out to Garzon for a 3-pointer at the 6:20 mark.

Indiana consistently shot well from 3-point range throughout the game, as shots from Parrish and Ciezki gave the Hoosiers a 57-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Ciezki hit her three while falling down just before the buzzer, and she celebrated with an excited Assembly Hall crowd.

Ohio State hung around in the fourth quarter but never totally threatened Indiana’s lead. The Buckeyes cut an Indiana lead which grew as large as 18 points to 11 with 3:55 left after a Madison Greene 3-pointer. Indiana had trouble against Ohio State’s press in the fourth quarter, committing 11 turnovers.

Moren broke her clipboard after a fourth-quarter turnover, which the Hoosiers turned into motivation.

“I think we fed off it,” Ciezki said.

“We like when she gets feisty,” Parrish said. “It’s kind of fun to see.”

But after an intentional foul on McMahon, Ciezki hit both three throws and Garzon banked in a runner. After hitting her third 3-pointer of the game, Garzon waved goodbye to the Ohio State bench during a timeout with 1:47 to play, essentially sealing the victory. Ciezki called Garzon, who had an all-around game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, “our silent killer.”

Ciezki and Moore-McNeil hugged while walking to the handshake line, knowing they’d just picked up perhaps their best win of the season.

“That was a dagger for us,” Ciezki said of Garzon’s 3-pointer. “I think everyone felt it, even Ohio State.”

Ohio State freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge led all scorers with 18 points, and junior forward Cotie McMahon finished with 14 points. But the Hoosiers held the remaining Buckeyes to just 11 made field goals on 39.2% shooting.

Indiana’s crucial stretch continues at 2 p.m. ET Sunday at No. 22 Michigan State, followed by a 7 p.m. ET tipoff against No. 21 Maryland on Thursday. Indiana fell short in its last two home games against ranked opponents, a 73-66 loss to No. 4 USC and 73-62 loss to No. 1 UCLA. Two road losses last week put the Hoosiers on the bubble in ESPN’s latest Bracketology. That gave the Hoosiers extra motivation against the Buckeyes.

“As we go down the stretch here, everything is about urgency,” Moren said. “... These kids, again, their sense of urgency, I know today in shootaround it just felt a little bit different.”

Moren said she doesn’t have to talk to her team much about what’s at stake because she has a veteran, self-motivated group that she trusts. She doesn’t worry much about complacency after big wins for the same reason.

Parrish, a fifth-year senior, is one of the leaders of this team and felt Thursday’s win will help the Hoosiers finish strong.

“This will do a lot for us,” Parrish said. “We reacted in an amazing way. We didn’t let a couple losses in the middle of the season bring us all the way down. We stuck together, and we shared the ball really, really well with 21 assists. I think that’s where we get going, and where our offense gets going.”

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