BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- No. 16 Indiana won a tightly contested matchup with Purdue in Mackey Arena Sunday afternoon.
On a day that saw conference rival Iowa lose in Overtime to Ohio State, Indiana took another step towards consecutive Big Ten titles with a big win over the Boilermakers. here's how they did it.
Here's how it happened:
Ridiculous shooting from deep
The Hoosiers have been a great offensive team this season. Of course, that is to be expected when you have a player like Mackenzie Holmes who can score at will. That said, Indiana has also built a reputation of being able to shoot the lights out in any given game this season.
Early on, however, it looked like Indiana would be unable to continue that success from deep, as it was announced prior to tipoff that they would be missing one of their best shooters. Sydney Parrish suffered a lower leg injury this week in practice.
Though Indiana was without Parrish, several players stepped up and had huge nights from beyond the arc. Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil, and Sara Scalia all hit at least three shots from deep.
Even Holmes contributed from range, connecting on her lone attempt.
While several Hoosiers made an impact in the 3-point column in this one, Scalia stood alone, hitting six of her nine attempts, and finishing with 20 total points.
Purdue scored the ball exceptionally well in the opening quarter, and the ability to score in bunches was the only reason the Hoosiers were able to keep the game within striking range.
The Hoosiers finished this game with 15 made threes, equating to 45 of their 74 points on the afternoon. This is the kind of performance they will need to have to be able to keep up with teams like Iowa and Ohio State later on this season, so it is an encouraging sight to see for Indiana fans.
Lockdown defense for three quarters
Indiana put together one of the worst defensive quarters in recent memory to open their day against Purdue. Moren's squad gave up a crazy 29 points in the first frame.
Moren has made defensive efficiency a huge point this season. After almost every game, she takes time in the press conference to discuss a particular number she gave to her team. This number is the score she expects her squad to hold their opponents under.
Without knowing what the number was for this one, I have to imagine it was very much in jeopardy after the first ten minutes.
However, the way the Hoosiers bounced back is ultimately what won them this game. Indiana put on a defensive clinic in the second quarter. They allowed just three made field goals, and only eight total points.
The rest of the game was more of the same on the defensive end for Indiana.
Even while missing Parrish, a solid defender who always makes a good impact on the defensive boards, the Hoosiers held Purdue to just 39 points for the remainder of the afternoon.
One of the best attributes a team can possess is the ability to react and respond to adversity. In a game where Indiana got thrashed early, they responded well and closed out a tough Boilermaker squad in a hostile environment.
Final Box Score
What's next?
The Hoosiers will now get a week to prepare for a home clash with Northwestern next Sunday.
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