Indiana women’s basketball took another blow to their injury-laden rotation on Sunday.
Senior Sydney Parrish injured her left leg in the second quarter of IU’s 73-65 win over Baylor in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals in the Bahamas on Sunday afternoon. It happened as Parrish was going up for a rebound and Bears forward Kyla Abraham fouled her, sending both to the floor, and Abraham fell onto Parrish’s leg. Parrish was helped off the floor by trainers and didn’t return until after halftime on crutches with a large ice pack on her left knee, according to IU women’s basketball broadcaster Austin Render.
Coach Teri Moren said postgame she’s not sure of the specifics of Parrish’s injury — she is going to need some imaging to determine a diagnosis. But the senior will not play in the championship of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Monday.
“It’s too early to tell,” Moren said of the injury via Zoom. “… It doesn’t look like tomorrow will be an opportunity for her to get back to playing, but I think our training staff is excellent. Our doctors and (athletic trainer Ben Tate), do such a great job with our players. She’s in good spirits, but she’s also disappointed, because she wants to play with her team tomorrow.”
Parrish has been IU’s second-leading rebounder so far this season, averaging 6.3 per game. She also averages 9.3 points per game.
It’s a blow to IU’s rotation, especially with the Hoosiers’ third game in about 48 hours coming up on Monday. IU played Columbia at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Baylor at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and will play the winner of UNC and Villanova at noon on Monday.
Parrish’s injury is the third to a starting or rotational player this year. Guard Lexus Bargesser was out the first four games of the season with a leg injury and made her season debut against Columbia in the Bahamas, while guard Lenee Beaumont is still out after a knee injury. Freshman Sydney Fenn is out for the season after having knee surgery, as well.
But it’s still the nonconference season for the Hoosiers, and they have a gauntlet of a Big Ten schedule coming up. So, Moren doesn’t want to risk anything.
“We know one thing about Syd Parrish, and she’s tough, and if she could play, she would,” Moren said. “… But we’re gonna protect her. We still got a lot of season ahead of us.”
Who will replace Sydney Parrish in Indiana basketball lineup?
Sophomore Julianna LaMendola, who is Parrish’s direct backup at the 4 and started in her place in the second half against Baylor, will likely replace her on Monday. LaMendola is a defense-first player, working to disrupt players and shut down plays. That also comes with a foul risk; the sophomore fouled out in 12 minutes against Baylor with no points and two rebounds, and she has 12 fouls in 71 minutes of play this season.
Moren tends to use a short bench as the season progresses, and she is running with an eight player rotation so far this season. That rotation quickly shrank to six on Saturday with Parrish’s injury in the second quarter and LaMendola getting into foul trouble in the third, then fouling out with seven minutes left in the fourth.
Junior Shay Ciezki played all but one minute of the game — she checked out briefly in the second quarter after twisting her ankle and was quickly tended to by trainers before returning. She was the one to carry the Hoosiers to victory, scoring 34 points on 9-of-16 shooting and a 12-of-13 mark from the free throw line.
Senior Chloe Moore-McNeil played 38 minutes, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring seven points.
“There was some adversity with Syd going out, and the way we responded … Shay had the special kind of day we needed her to have,” Moren said.
This IU team will no doubt be tired, and down a starter for its third game in three days. That could lead Moren to rely more on players off the bench like Bargesser, who played 26 minutes in her second game back from injury on Sunday, or to extend her bench, bringing in junior guard Henna Sandvik or freshman forward Faith Wiseman.
