No. 25 Indiana women’s basketball hosted another Ivy League school on Thursday night, as Harvard was welcomed into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Hoosiers (1-1) were upset by the Crimson (2-0), 72-68, on Thursday in overtime, as turnovers, poor shooting and a bad start proved to be insurmountable for Indiana.
Here’s how it happened between Indiana and Harvard.
SLOW START DOOMS INDIANA
After head coach Teri Moren was disappointed with the Hoosiers’ performance in the season opener on Monday, her team came out flat in game two against the Crimson.
In the first four and a half minutes of the first quarter, Indiana turned the ball over six times. Trailing 10-2 less than halfway through the opening frame, Moren was forced to call a timeout to try and wake her team up. It didn’t work.
Coming out of the timeout, Indiana was outscored 11-5 the rest of the quarter. After the first 10 minutes of play on Thursday in Bloomington, Indiana trailed Harvard 21-7. The Hoosiers had more turnovers (11) than field goal attempts (7) in the first quarter. Indiana went just 2-of-7 from the field in the first quarter.
The Hoosiers’ offense looked disjointed. Nobody seemed as if they were on the same page on the offensive side of the ball, leading to countless opportunities for the Crimson on the other end of the floor.
STRONG CLOSE TO THE SECOND QUARTER NOT ENOUGH
As bad as the first quarter was for Indiana, the Hoosiers got a much needed bounce back in the second frame. Indiana tightened up on both ends of the floor, keeping the turnover numbers down, while also picking it up on the defensive end of the floor.
The Hoosiers appeared to finally settle into the game in the second quarter, before closing the half as most good teams do: strong.
Indiana closed the half on an 11-0 run. The Hoosiers only turned it over twice in the second period — early in the frame. Indiana was helped by Harvard’s top offensive threat, Harmoni Turner, picking up her second foul and being forced to the bench. Turner had 10 points in the first half before being forced to watch from the bench for the final 5-plus minute of the second quarter.
The Hoosiers went into the halftime intermission trailing the Crimson 32-30. As a team, Indiana shot just 9-of-24 from the field in the first half and just 1-of-10 from 3-point range.
INDIANA UNABLE TO OVERCOME POOR SHOOTING, FOUL TROUBLE, TURNOVERS
Indiana struggled all night long shooting the ball. The Hoosiers also found themselves in a bunch of foul trouble too.
Indiana Shay Ciezki and Yarden Garzon fouled out for the Hoosiers with a combined 24 points between then. It's important to know Indiana wasn't the only team dealing with foul trouble in the game. Harvard had two players foul out as well.
On the night, Indiana went 17-of-49 (34.7%) from the floor and just 3-of-18 (16.7%) from downtown. That's not a recipe for success for the Hoosiers. Indiana's three makes from downtown came from just two players. Garzon, who fouled out late in the game, made two, while Julianna Lamendola made the other.
Indiana also totaled 27 turnovers on the night. 11 of those came in the first 10 minutes of the game, while five of those 27 turnovers came in overtime. In the overtime period, the Hoosiers scored as many points as they had turnovers.
FINAL STATS
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– Interact with fellow fans on TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board
