Indiana Knocks Off Rutgers in Second Round of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Advancing to Quarterfinals
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — No. 5-seed Indiana knocks No. 13-seed Rutgers out of the Big Ten Tournament following a Hoosier 66-54 victory. Indiana will advance to the quarterfinals and face Maryland on Friday.
"You could tell tonight or this afternoon that the things that we had been working on and talking about showed out in a big way," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said.
Indiana lost its last three regular season games to Iowa twice in a row and then to Maryland at home. Playing one-third of the Big Ten schedule in 10 days wasn't ideal for Moren and her team, so the short break before tournament play was a gift.
The Hoosiers shot 45.8 percent from the floor and visited the charity stripe 21 times cashing in on 16 of those opportunities. Rutgers shot 36.5 percent from the field and saw the free-throw line 11 times only hitting six shots.
Graduate student guard Ali Patberg went 5-for-7 on three-pointers and led the Hoosiers with 19 points.
"I love playing here," Patberg said. "I've played here multiple times before being in college. I'm just trying to go out there and do what I need to do to help our team win, and that's all I'm focused on."
Senior guard Grace Berger contributed 17 points and six rebounds for the afternoon while sophomore forward Mackenzie Holmes added 11 points.
Sophomore forward Kiandra Browne, who usually relieves the starters, sat the bench not dressed to play. Moren said she re-aggravated her hip in the Maryland game and believes she will be good to go on Friday.
In the first quarter, Berger's pull-up jumper gave Indiana an early 6-2 lead. Rutgers remained steady and fought back until Patberg hit her first three-pointer of the day with under three minutes to play in the first.
Indiana's defense powered by graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary held Rutgers without a field goal for more than three minutes. Patberg hit another three-pointer before the buzzer sounded.
"Nikki was terrific today on the ball," Moren said. "Obviously she's a problem, as I always say, disruptive on the ball defender, and I thought she was great."
Rutgers cut its deficit to just one bucket in the early second quarter, but Patberg clapped back with her third triple of the afternoon followed soon after by Berger's jumper. Indiana led 32-26 at the half.
Coming out of halftime, the Hoosiers turned on their offense to match their defensive performance. Indiana used a 5-0 run to gain a 9-point lead. Patberg's hot hand secured another triple while Berger's jumper gave Indiana a double-figure cushion.
The Hoosiers pulled away leading by as much as 16 points in the fourth. Cardaño-Hillary had two swipes that ended up drawing fouls from a desperate Scarlet Knights squad trying to keep up with Indiana's pace.
"We had our legs coming into this game so I think heading into the second half, but especially the fourth quarter, we kind of knew that and used that to our advantage," Berger said.
After getting into foul trouble early in the second half, senior forward Aleksa Gulbe fouled out with three and a half minutes to go and was applauded off the court.
Down a player and all, Indiana's lead was still too much for Rutgers to handle.
Up next, Indiana will face No. 4-seed Maryland Friday afternoon around 1:50 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
"I think it's a great advantage for us that we did just see them," Moren said. "I think it's a great advantage that we're on a neutral floor. I think the other positive thing is that we know that we can beat them."
This will be the third time this season Indiana will play the Terrapins. In January, the Hoosiers defeated the Terps in overtime, but Maryland got the best of Indiana for the Hoosiers last regular season road game last week.
"We are playing for a lot," Patberg said. "We're playing for a Big Ten championship. We're playing for a seeding in the NCAA tournament. We're playing to win."
Related stories on Indiana women's basketball
- FIVE HOOSIERS EARN ALL-BIG TEN HONORS: All five Indiana starters earned All-Big Ten honors after finishing with a 19-7 regular season record and earning a No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament. This team marks the most honors in a single season in Hoosier program history. CLICK HERE.
- HOOSIERS DROP TO NO. 14 IN AP POLL: The Indiana Hoosiers are now tied with Arizona at No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. Five Big Ten teams are ranked one after the other with Indiana bringing up the rear of the conference. CLICK HERE.
- INDIANA TAKES NO. 5 SEED IN BIG TEN TOURNAMENT: Women's college basketball regular season is over as of Sunday. Now, the Hoosiers will transition into the post season as a No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The full seedings and tournament schedule are inside the article. CLICK HERE.
