No. 15 Indiana Drops MPSF Opener At No. 2 USC

Saturday, March 8

Los Angeles, California

4 PM ET

Indiana University

#2 USC

BLOOMINGTON, IN - January 26, 2025 - utility Nicole Tyner #23 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the match between the McKendree Bearcats and the Indiana Hoosiers at the Student Recreational Sports Center in Bloomington, IN. Photo By Spencer Meyer/Indiana Athletics

3/8/2025 5:48:00 PM | Women's Water Polo

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – No. 2 USC used a big second half as No. 15 Indiana dropped its MPSF opener on Saturday afternoon, 21-12, at Uytengsu Aquatic Center.

KEY MOMENTS

USC (17-1, 1-0 MPSF) opened up the afternoon with three-straight goals, but the Hoosiers (12-5, 0-1 MPSF) pulled back within one, 4-3, on shots in the cage from three different players. Junior Grace Hathaway had a pair of goals and capitalized on a penalty shot at the buzzer in the first to keep the lead within one, 6-5.
A floater in the net with a late shot clock in the second got Indiana on the board from junior Louisa Downes with 7:10 remaining. Junior Nicole Tyner piled on as she tied the game at 7-all 40 seconds later but Indiana was held scoreless the rest of the frame and faced an 11-7 halftime deficit.
Indiana went scoreless in the third as the Trojans scored four goals in the third and built a 15-7 lead going to the third. Offense was sparked late for the Hoosiers in the fourth, as they put up five in the final 4:52 of play but ultimately fell short.

NOTES

Four players had two goals each including Hathaway, Downes, junior Grace Klingler and junior Nicole Tyner.
Senior Portia Sasser assisted on a team-high three assists.
Sasser and Hathaway each drew three exclusions each.
Indiana had eight steals in the game including one each from goalies Jasmine Higgs and Audrey Cox.

UP NEXT
Indiana goes across town to face No. 4 UCLA on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.

For all the latest on Indiana University women's water polo, be sure to follow the team at @IndianaWPolo on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

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