Indiana Women's Basketball Suffers 68-54 Home Loss Against Illinois

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s women’s basketball team demonstrated Sunday that it’s capable of being tough. In the difficult environment that is Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Indiana controlled every aspect of the game against the Hawkeyes in a seven-point victory.

On Thursday, in a home game against Illinois, Indiana also demonstrated that it is still a work in progress.

The Fighting Illini blitzed Indiana with a 25-point first quarter. While the Hoosiers eventually got their defensive act together, they could not take control of the game. After Indiana got within four points in the fourth quarter, Illinois mustered the decisive finishing kick as Indiana fell 68-54 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

It was Indiana’s second Big Ten Conference loss of the season. It was a defeat - the second in a row to the Fighting Illini in the series - that Indiana coach Teri Moren was obviously disappointed about.

“Coming off such a great win at Iowa, I thought tonight would be one of those nights we were anxious to get back home and play in front of our fans and it’s disappointing that we couldn’t perform better,” Moren said.

She sensed trouble after a substandard practice on Wednesday.

“Yesterday wasn’t a good practice for us, and as I always tell them, you play how you practice. With some individuals, not all of them,” Moren said.

Several usual Indiana contributors didn’t play the minutes they typically do. Yarden Garzon only scored three points in 20 minutes, including just four minutes played in the second half. Lilly Meister played 11 minutes, including three in the second half, and scored a single point.

Indiana played the same five – Sydney Parrish, Shay Ciezki, Lexus Bargesser, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Karoline Striplin – for the final 13:40 of the game.

“They’re not injured, they’re fully healthy,” Moren said on Garzon and Meister.

“Yarden had a hard time guarding and we had to get stops,” Moren continued. “(Adalia McKenzie) went right at her so we had to get a more athletic lineup on the floor.”

“Lilly has to be better. She has to be better offensively. She has to be better defensively. She’s just been okay and we don’t need an okay Lilly. We need a really good Lilly to help us.”

Indiana’s offense only operated at the intended efficiency in the third quarter when the Hoosiers were 8 of 11 from the field. Apart from that, it was a struggle. Ciezki, Parrish and Moore-McNeil all had 13 points, but it was difficult to score against the physical Illini.

“We needed to do a better job getting out and running something that's not just settling for a high ball screen, which I think we saw a lot, but we got better throughout the game,” Parrish said. “But we need to start the first quarter better. That’s where we shot ourselves in the foot.”

Indeed, Illinois (13-4, 3-3) set the tone from the opening period. The Illini started the game with an 11 of 14 burst that put Indiana behind 14 by the 3:50 mark of the first quarter. McKenzie and post player Kendall Bostic combined for 20 points in the opening period. Bostic would ultimately lead Illinois with 21 points and McKenzie scored 15.

Indiana (12-5, 4-2) clamped down on Illinois in the second quarter – holding the Illini to just five buckets – but Illinois tightened their vise too. Indiana was 3 of 11 from the field in an eight-point second quarter as Illinois had a 35-22 halftime advantage.

Indiana's Sydney Parrish (33) looks to shoot during the Indiana versus Illinois women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The third quarter was where it appeared Indiana had turned a corner. Down 15 as late as the 5:18 mark, Indiana went on a 17-6 run that cut Illinois’ advantage to 49-45 early in the final period. At one point, Indiana made eight shots in a row and 10 of 11 as it appeared the Illini were reeling with the Assembly Hall crowd in full voice.

However, Indiana couldn’t muster the final push. After Illinois inched ahead 50-45, Parrish turned the ball over on a pass up the floor, leading to a Berry Wallace layup. After Bargesser missed a shot on the other end, Wallace hit a 3-pointer with 6:13 left to give Illinois a double-digit advantage at 55-45.

Indiana would not get closer than a seven-point deficit for the remainder of the contest.

The Hoosiers don’t have time to stew about their loss. No. 4 Southern California comes to Assembly Hall at noon on Sunday.

“If we play like this against USC, it's going to be brutal. So we know we have to show up for that game and be a lot better than we were tonight,” Parrish said.

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