Indiana Offense Falters in 54-47 Loss at Oregon

Indiana’s west coast road trip started with two records it did not aspire to set.

The Hoosiers’ 54-47 loss Friday at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore., marked their second-fewest points scored in 11 seasons under coach Teri Moren and the fewest since a 68-46 home loss to Michigan State on Dec. 28, 2017. Coming off home losses to Illinois and USC, Indiana is also on its first three-game losing streak since the end of the 2021-22 regular season, when it lost twice to Iowa and at Maryland.

Indiana led by 10 points in the third quarter, but immediately allowed a 10-0 Oregon run to tie the game. The Hoosiers also led by three points with five minutes to play, only to go on a 4:41 scoring drought down the stretch. Indiana shot just 37.5% from the field and committed 17 turnovers.

“You’re not gonna win games when you don’t value the ball,” Moren said postgame. “We did not do that tonight, and we took some very characteristic, but just shots that we had no business taking. Give Oregon credit, they were extremely physical. They took a lot of our first actions away from us, but still had an opportunity, had a lead and lost it. So disappointed. I take responsibility. We didn’t look like a very well-coached team tonight.”

Indiana leading scorer Yarden Garzon finished below her season average with just eight points on 4-for-14 shooting and missed all five 3-point attempts. Indiana senior point guard Chloe Moore-McNeil scored eight points on 3-for-10 shooting, and fellow starting guard Shay Ciezki was held scoreless on five shots in 27 minutes.

Though it came out with the win, Oregon did not play well offensively, either. The Ducks shot just 33.9% from the field and finished with their third-fewest points of the season. Indiana’s Karoline Striplin and Oregon’s Peyton Scott tied with a game-high 14 points apiece.

“Honestly, I want to take credit for some of it. I think that I probably did a little too much one-on-one, where I could have got my teammates involved,” Striplin said. “I think that was sort of the theme of the night. I think that we definitely could have worked together more.”

The first quarter was a sign of things to come throughout the night. Indiana and Oregon combined for eight turnovers and shot just 8 for 27 from the field. Striplin made her second straight start for the Hoosiers, in place of Lilly Meister, and she was a bright spot with six quick points as Indiana led 11-8 after one quarter of play.

The slow offensive start carried over in the second quarter for both teams. The Ducks made just 6-of-19 field goals and couldn’t capitalize on several second-chance opportunities after out-rebounding the Hoosiers 15-6. After missing her first two shots in the first quarter, Garzon began to find her shot with six second-quarter points.

Indiana’s eight turnovers and 39.3% field goal percentage would often signal a first-half deficit. But Oregon had an even harder time hitting shots at just 28.1%, so the Hoosiers took a 25-22 lead into halftime.

It looked as if the Hoosiers had found their offensive rhythm and were going to pull away early in the third quarter. They opened the second half with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Sydney Parrish 3-pointer to take a 32-22 lead.

But Oregon responded with a 10-0 run of its own as Indiana went more than three minutes without scoring. Any offensive adjustments at halftime proved largely ineffective as both teams shot below 33.3% from the field in the third quarter.

Indiana clung to a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. It was shaping up to be a nail-biting finish as the teams traded baskets until Meister gave the Hoosiers a 45-42 lead with five minutes to play. But on a night where both offenses struggled, Indiana’s longest scoring drought came at perhaps the worst time possible.

Indiana went scoreless from the 5:09 mark until just 28 seconds remained in the game, when Moore-McNeil snapped Oregon’s 10-0 run with a layup. The Hoosiers committed five turnovers during a stretch that saw the Ducks turn a three-point deficit into a seven-point lead, and that was enough to secure the win.

The loss drops Indiana’s record to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play ahead of Monday’s 9 p.m. ET game at Washington.

“I think the next 48 hours are going to be interesting in terms of, not just our film sessions but also our practices and the conversations that we’re going to have to have,” Moren said. “Because Washington is a very, very good team, just lost at home to Iowa, so they’re gonna be wanting to get back on track as well. So we’re gonna have to dig deep in our soul, in our hearts, in our soul and see what we’re made of, because this has been a tough stretch for us. So I think moving forward, we’ll find out what our group’s made of.”