BLOOMINGTON — With just under a minute left in a high-stakes game against the No. 5 team in the country, IU women’s basketball had momentum on its side.
Down 70-66 against USC, Indiana had just forced a shot clock violation. The crowd was frantic, making it difficult for the Trojans to hear their own play calls.
IU raced down the court, turning to junior Yarden Garzon. With 37 seconds left, Garzon heaved up the shot. It rattled around the basket, bouncing around the rim.
Then, it bounced out.
USC senior Rayah Marshall recovered the rebound, and the Hoosiers were forced to foul. Marshall missed her first free throw and made the second, giving Indiana a true final chance.
With Garzon in possession of the ball, she put up a 3-point shot. It bounced off the rim again.
“We’ve just gotta hit shots,” coach Teri Moren said. “It’s that easy. That’s the lesson we got to learn. I think we got some really good (shots), we just didn’t hit them. Syd Parrish got some really good looks, Yarden got some really good looks. Same with UCLA, if you look back and it’s like, we hit a couple more shots and we win this game.”
IU uncharacteristically struggled from the 3-point line in Sunday afternoon’s 73-66 loss, shooting just 8-of-29 from beyond the arc. Overall, the Hoosiers shot just 21-of-56 from the field for a 38% clip.
There were some highlights — IU led after the first quarter after holding USC to no field goals in the final seven minutes of the first. But low moments came just as quickly — IU didn’t score a field goal in the final five minutes of the second quarter, allowing USC to take back the lead.
The Hoosiers had a burst of momentum at the beginning of the fourth quarter, going on a 5-0 run to take the lead back once again. The moves the Hoosiers were doing to get around the Trojans’ defense, though, didn’t last, and USC went on a 12-0 run just as quickly.
And the Hoosiers saw the game slip from their fingers.
“I feel like at times we were getting great looks, and then I think at times we went away from what got us those great looks,” Moore-McNeil said on what went wrong. “I think that was really important, especially when you’re playing a great team like USC, you can’t have that kind of slippage.”
Garzon, who is usually one of IU’s best shooters, was ineffective against USC’s defensive front, as well. She shot 3-of-17 from the floor for 10 points, including a 2-of-11 mark from 3-point range, in 39 minutes. It was the second straight game she struggled — she played minimal minutes in the second half of Thursday’s loss to Illinois because of a coach’s decision due to matchups.
Still, Moren knows how valuable Garzon has been to the Hoosiers in her three years in Bloomington. And she needs her to keep her confidence up.
“We need her, so we just have to keep doing what we’re doing, pouring into her and encouraging her and being her biggest cheerleader right now, that she’s a great shooter, that she can make plays for us,” Moren said. “… We’ve got to stay the course for her, because we know how important she is.”
The wavering confidence is something that’s affecting every Hoosier — they’re on a three-game home losing streak and not seeing the success they’re used to in the conference with a 4-3 conference record.
It’ll be a group effort, Moore-McNeil said postgame, for everyone to get their confidence back up. And to make sure their teammates are confident, too. With a West Coast road trip coming up against Big Ten newcomers Oregon and Washington, that’s the only way they’ll be able to have success in the conference.
“I think it’ll take every one of us being able to hold our confidence and not letting that fall,” Moore-McNeil said. “It’ll also take the people surrounding those that are feeling that lack of confidence right now to keep each other up.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU women’s basketball needs confidence reset after USC loss
