‘Extra Special’ – IU Handles Pressure in Key Victory
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - THIS is what Indiana can do when it’s dialed in, when it’s intense and passionate and ready to do what needs to be done.
Beating No. 8 Ohio State 71-61 Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall suggested the Hoosiers are poised for something special -- a big end to the regular season (next up, Sunday’s game at No. 22/21 Michigan State), a potential title-winning run through the Big Ten tourney (set for March 5-9 at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse) and a strong NCAA tourney showing after that, and if that sounds like jumping too far ahead, well, why not after the best performance of the season against a team that had been a recent nemesis?
“We played our hardest and played our game,” guard Shay Ciezki said. “That was the biggest thing. We stuck with the game plan, stuck with each other, stayed in it and got the W.”
IU’s second straight victory and first against a top-10 team this season -- it had earlier competitive losses to powerhouses UCLA and USC -- boosted its NCAA tourney at-large-bid chances. It is 17-9 overall and 9-6 in the Big Ten.
“This will do a lot for us,” said forward Sydney Parrish, whose 16 points matched that of Ciezki and Yarden Garzon for the team lead. “We reacted in an amazing way. We didn’t let a couple of losses during the season bring us down. We shared the ball well. That’s where we get going. We knew their press would be hard. They’re a great team. We handled it great. We were the aggressors.”
Aggression delivered 54.3 percent shooting (52.9 percent on three-pointers), 21 assists, a 34-20 rebounding edge and consistent tough-minded play critical for postseason success.
“This was a big opportunity,” coach Teri Moren said. “We knew it would take something extra special.”
How do you beat a 22-3 Buckeye team and its offense-wrecking press? You shoot ruthlessly, rebound relentlessly, pass efficiently, attack constantly, defend ferociously.
And you do it for 40 minutes.
“I’m happy in how hard our team played, how they held up the entire 40 minutes,” Moren said. “They were brilliant in the way they guarded, the way they rebounded.
“We knew we had to keep them off the free throw line, be great in transition and rebound. The kids did an outstanding job in all three. They hit shots. They executed. They found their teammates, shared the ball to get good-to-great shots. We needed it from all of them to get the win.”
Parrish had played in the previous two meetings, both Buckeye victories when IU buckled late against the press.
“It was everything,” she said about IU’s press preparation. “We’d lost because of the press. We knew it was coming. We handled it.”
Added Moren: “We wanted them to embrace the press, be aggressive. That’s how they came out. They were ready to conquer it. In the past it was something that disrupted us.”
IU’s press-breaking success came in part, Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said, because of Buckeye mistakes.
“We weren’t executing our press,” he said. “It hurt us right out of the gate. They made us pay. They had five people up there and we weren’t matching up. They were getting ahead of us. We didn’t (play it well enough) for 40 minutes to generate the points off turnovers we usually do.”
IU overcame 10 fourth-quarter turnovers -- one of which caused a frustrated Moren to shatter assistant coach Ali Patberg’s clipboard -- because it had built leads as large as 18 points entering the final 10 minutes.
“It got out of hand a little bit at the end,” Parrish said. “We knew they were going to ramp it up. We need to be better down the stretch to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.”
And if that includes another broken clipboard, the Hoosiers are fine with it.
“We like it when she gets feisty,” Parrish said of Moren. “It’s fun to see.”
Added Ciezki: “She was upset, and rightfully so. We fed off of it.”
IU punished Ohio State’s pressure defense with crisp passing, opening 6-for-6 on layups in the first six minutes. It ended the first quarter with a 26-17 lead thanks to nine assists against two turnovers.
The Hoosiers’ 14-2 second-quarter-ending run came from 63 percent first-half shooting, including 5-for-8 on three-pointers. Parrish set the tone with 13 points.
IU withstood Ohio State’s 9-0 run to open the third quarter. A Garzon three-pointer pushed IU ahead 47-33. A Parrish three-pointer made it 52-36. Ciezki ended the quarter with a three-pointer for a 57-39 Hoosier lead.
The Buckeyes, despite a final push, were finished. The Hoosiers most definitely were not.
“This group knows what’s at stake,” Moren said. “They know what they have to do.”
Motivation involves more than team prospects, Moren added. Players want to win for each other. Moren said Parrish wants to “finish this the right way” for fellow seniors Chloe Moore-McNeil and Karoline Striplin.
“That’s the motivation in Syd to see this through.”
More work remains. Victories at Michigan State (19-7, 9-6) on Sunday and then against No. 21/18 Maryland (21-6, 11-5) next Thursday at Simon Skjdot Assembly Hall are critical. Losing them could create postseason uncertainty no Hoosier wants.
The players won’t hear that from their coach.
“I trust that they know,” Moren said. “Our job as coaches is to give them the best scouting report and strategy to put us in position to be successful. They have to execute it.
“(Against Ohio State), they executed it the way we had hoped.”
Moren said playing Ohio State should help preparing for Michigan State, another pressing team.
“We’ll use that,” she said.
Figure the Hoosiers will use it well.
