The Work Will Continue - Hoosier Reflect On Season That Was
3/27/2022 3:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Ali Patberg buried her face in a white towel from an unwanted Indiana sideline seat. Tears flowed. Of course, they did. There was nothing she could do as the clock ticked toward zero. There was nothing any of the Hoosiers could do.
Second-seed UConn (28-5) was too good, the Husky-fan-packed Total Mortgage Arena environment too challenging, the mistakes too costly.
It hurt.
Boy, did it hurt.
A Hoosier era like never before ended with Saturday's 75-58 Sweet 16 defeat.
The Huskies will advance to Monday night's Elite Eight game against No. 1 seed North Carolina State, which edged Notre Dame 66-63 on Saturday.
Third-seeded Indiana (24-9) could only wonder about what might have been.
"I'm disappointed we lost," Patberg said. "I'm not a good loser. This is not how I envisioned going out."
After seven college seasons, Patberg's college career is over. So are the careers of Aleksa Gulbe, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and Grace Waggoner.
Those four, plus guard Grace Berger, who will return for a fifth season, and junior forward Mackenzie Holmes redefined what a once-struggling IU program could be.
"This group is going to have a lot of stories to tell each other," coach Teri Moren said. "The experience and memories they're going to have will last forever.
"Although today hurts, the work continues. We got to the Elite Eight last year. We're disappointed we didn't get there this year, but now we'll turn around.
"Our goals will be high once again. The standards will stay what they are. They were cemented by kids like Ali and Leks (Gulbe) and Nikki (Cardaño-Hillary) who believed in the vision and in the work it takes."
Belief remains in the returning players.
"I'm going to be wearing Indiana on my chest until they don't let me wear Indiana on my chest anymore," Holmes said.
The record shows these seniors delivered 90 victories, Elite Eight and Sweet 16 finishes, top-10 ratings, three NCAA tourney appearances (it would have been four if not for the pandemic) and more.
"We were a great team because we worked hard," Patberg said. "We played for one another. Our coaches always had a great game plan. I felt most games we were the smarter team.
"I think the biggest thing was we never gave up. We always continued to fight."
What do you say when the end comes, when years of work and sweat and dedication do not deliver a second straight Elite Eight opportunity or a potential national championship?
"I'm thankful that Coach Moren believed in me five years ago and gave me an opportunity to wear Hoosier on my chest," Patberg said.
"I hope people at IU remember how hard I played, that I was a good teammate and worked as hard as I could."
The Hoosiers didn't blink in the spotlight -- they had gotten used to it by playing powerhouses such as Stanford, Baylor and South Carolina in recent years -- as much as the Huskies elevated to a dominant level that has produced 13 straight victories this season, and 11 national titles overall.
In four third-quarter minutes, UConn ratcheted up its defense and offensive rebounding to turn a four-point halftime edge into a 20-point cushion.
Indiana never recovered.
"Indiana puts so much pressure on your guards," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I thought we did an amazing job defensively, and that was the difference in the game."
Indiana did a lot of things right on Saturday. It out-shot UConn from the field (48 percent to 46 percent), three-point range (33 percent to 25 percent) and the line (69 percent to 57 percent).
But too many turnovers (15) and too many UConn offensive rebounds (15) were too much to overcome. The Huskies had a 14-2 edge in second-chance points.
"That just wasn't us," Moren said. "We made some uncharacteristic mistakes. We dug a big hole, and you can't do that against a team like Connecticut.
"They are very good. We knew they were disciplined defensively, but they were even more physical that we've seen. They took it to us."
Patberg's memorable college finale saw her make 7-of-9 shots for 16 points. Berger had 13 points and five rebounds. Holmes had 12 and six.
It wasn't nearly enough, and it hurt.
"I'm not ready to have Ali not be my teammate anymore," Holmes said.
"This team is filled with 11 selfless girls who put each other before themselves."
IU rocked UConn with an 8-2 game-opening burst. It still led 18-13 when the Huskies ended the quarter with an 8-0 run for a 21-18 lead.
"The goal was to get them on their heels early," Moren said. "We've been in big moments before, played a lot of great teams.
"My guys were not going to blink. We were here to win."
Patberg tied the score with a three-pointer. UConn countered with six straight points. Patberg hit another three-pointer, and then a basket. That gave her 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, but the Huskies, behind ferocious offensive rebounding, surged for a 35-26 lead.
Holmes scored four points to keep IU within range and then Gulbe drained a three-pointer to end the half -- taking advantage of a 1.3-second out-of-bounds play -- for a 37-33 score.
That could have ignited the Hoosiers to a big third quarter.
Instead, UConn took control.
"We didn't like the way the half ended," Huskies forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa said. "We talked about it at halftime and made a point of coming out aggressive."
Trying to contain UConn's rebounding, IU got physical on its box outs to open the third quarter and picked up two quick fouls. The Huskies capitalized on that, plus a back-door cut for a layup (something the Hoosiers didn't allow in the first half), with a 9-0 burst.
Trailing 46-33 and with victory prospects on life support, Moren called a timeout.
Then the Hoosiers threw the ball away. The Huskies capitalized with a layup. Then another layup. Then another Indiana turnover.
The run reached 16-0 for a 53-33 UConn lead. Cardaño-Hillary ended the third-quarter shutout with a layup. Patberg scored. The Hoosiers had a spark with a chance to rally with more stops.
They couldn't get them.
IU ended the third quarter trailing 59-46.
It had 10 minutes to save its season against perhaps the most dominant program in women's basketball history.
Even for this veteran group, it was too much to ask.
"I loved the start," Moren said. "I didn't like the third quarter. If I could have that one back, that's what I'd want back."
Still, the future is bright.
Berger and Holmes will return. So will Chloe Moore McNeil, Kiandra Browne, Kaitlin Peterson, Mona Zaric and Arielle Wisne.
There's also a strong recruiting class that includes four-star guard Yarden Garzon from Israel, Henna Sandvik of Finland, Michigan guard Lexus Bargesser and Minnesota forward Lilly Meister.
"I know they're going to continue to get better, grow and have success," Patberg said. "I can't wait to see that, and to know I was a small part of it."
