After Overcoming a Huge Deficit, Indiana Women's Basketball Still Falls to Iowa for the Last Home Game of the Regular Season
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — On an emotional Senior Day, the No. 5-ranked Hoosiers fell to No. 22 Iowa 96-91 after coming back from a 23-point deficit in the third quarter.
"We just dug ourselves a hole the first half and were playing catch up throughout," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said.
A teary graduate student guard Ali Patberg had senior forward Aleksa Gulbe speak for her in the post game press conference when asked about the honored seniors.
"We're her family," Gulbe said. Hoosier Nation is her family."
Patberg added she loves playing in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and it's tough to lose the last regular season home game.
"I'm hoping that's not going to be the last game in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall," Moren said. "Of course you're going to miss all of them, all your seniors. They've said it all along. We have so much more basketball ahead of us."
In addition to Patberg and Gulbe, seniors Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and junior Grace Waggoner, who is opting out of the season next year to pursue her MBA, were honored.
As of now, Gulbe said she will continue to play basketball in Europe.
To damper the Senior Day celebration, the Hawkeyes shot 56.7 percent from the floor and 52.6 percent from the three-point line. Senior forward Monika Czinano led the team with 22 points and was one of five Hawkeyes to reach double scoring figures.
Five Hoosiers also scored in double figures led by Gulbe's 22 points.
Junior forward Mackenzie Holmes wasn't one of those five as she eased her way back into her rhythm.
"Mack is still not Mackenzie Holmes pre-knee injury," Moren said. "It's not her fault. It's just the circumstances. We may need to see how she feels tonight, tomorrow and make adjustments."
The first quarter was disastrous for Indiana. The Hoosiers won the tip, but went 0-for-3 to start off. The Hawkeyes followed suit but quickly earned a 5-point lead.
After Iowa made four straight shots, the Hoosiers were forced to call a timeout and regroup.
The short break didn't help Indiana as Iowa went on a 9-0 run as a product of four Hoosier turnovers.
Cardaño-Hillary hit a jumper to bring the Hoosiers within 10, but poor Indiana offense would give Iowa a 25-11 lead at the buzzer.
"Defensively, I don't know if we executed any of the game plan,"Patberg said.
To start the second quarter, Patberg drew the foul for the and-1. For the Hoosiers' next play, Patberg did it again which erupted the crowd, but this time she missed the free throw.
Gulbe wanted in on the and-1 action too and made another 3-point play for Indiana.
Iowa out-rebounded the Hoosiers 25-12 and ended the half up 46-29.
One impressive effort was Indiana held Iowa's leading scorer Caitlin Clark to just two points in the first half.
"She's a terrific guard, one of the best in the country," Moren said. "We were trying to get to her early in transition. I thought we did a good job on Cait. The other ones hurt us."
At the half, Moren challenged her team to dig deeper in front of a 7,000-person crowd. She said the team owed it to Hoosier Nation to get back into the game.
In the beginning of the third quarter, Iowa went on a 7-0 run while Indiana didn't make any field goals for more than three minutes.
"This is a team that scores a lot of points," Moren said. "They have not only Cailtin but Czinano's a problem inside."
Sophomore guard Chloe Moore-McNeil ended the Hoosiers' drought with a layup followed by Berger's and-1 play.
Desperate to keep up, Cardaño-Hillary nailed a three from downtown. In the Hoosiers' next play, Moore-McNeil missed her three-pointer, but Cardaño-Hillary hit a layup off the offensive rebound.
Iowa entered the last period leading by 22 points, but the Hoosiers kept fighting to chip away as Berger and Moore-McNeil hit a pair of back-to-back three-pointers before the media timeout.
Indiana later went on a 6-0 run off of a second-chance layup from both Berger and Holmes to bring the Hoosiers within 11 with less than four minutes to go.
Off of an offensive rebound, Gulbe cashed in on a layup to close the gap to 10 points.
Although four Hoosiers scored in double figures, four were also in foul trouble as Cardaño-Hillary fouled out in the fourth period.
The Hoosiers' grittiness and 42-point scoring fourth quarter Big Ten record wouldn't be enough as the Hawkeyes held a steady game all the way to the final buzzer.
"It's frustrating because I think we could've done that earlier, that energy, the fight," Patberg said.
Up next in a quick turnaround, the Hoosiers will face the Hawkeyes again on Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Iowa City.
"However many games I have left as a Hoosier, I'm going to give it my all," Patberg said.
How to watch Indiana at Iowa
- Who: Indiana Hoosiers (19-5, 11-3 Big Ten) vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (17-7, 11-4 Big Ten)
- When: 8 p.m. ET, Monday, Feb. 21
- Where: Carver Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
- TV: BTN
- Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM
Related stories on Indiana women's basketball
- INDIANA TO PLAY IOWA AS PART OF 2-GAME SERIES: It's the last home game of the regular season for the Hoosiers who will take on Iowa, last year's Big Ten Championship runner-up. The Hawkeyes have a weapon in sophomore guard Caitlin Clark who leads the country in five statistical categories. CLICK HERE.
- HOOSIERS DEFEAT NORTHWESTERN: The Indiana crowd roared as junior forward Mackenzie Holmes made her return after eight games off nursing a knee injury. But it was senior forward Aleksa Gulbe who finished with a double-double to lead Indiana to a win over Northwestern while both fans and teams supported Breast Cancer Awareness Night. CLICK HERE.
- TERI MOREN NAMED TO WERNER LADDER NAISMITH WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST: Moren is just one of 15 coaches to receive this watch list honor. In her eighth season at the helm, Moren has taken her team to new heights with the team's first Elite Eight appearance last season and its best Big Ten conference start this season. CLICK HERE.
