BLOOMINGTON — Indiana women’s basketball guard Sydney Parrish offered a pretty blunt assessment of how the team had played through the first three games last week.
“We are so much better than that,” Parrish said.
The Hoosiers (2-2, 0-0) went out and proved it on Sunday afternoon with a 79-66 victory over Stanford (4-1) at Assembly Hall. It was a measure of revenge for an IU team that went out west last season and lost 96-64 to the Cardinal in one of the most lopsided defeats of coach Teri Moren’s tenure.
Indiana’s starting backcourt of Chloe Moore-McNeil and Shay Ciezki combined for 40 points and set the tone from the start with their strong perimeter defense. Moore-McNeil came through with a steal with 2:25 to go and set up Ciezki for a fast break layup as Stanford tried to make one last push at a comeback.
Moore-McNeil had a game-high 21 points and four steals.
Indiana women make a statement with 14-0 run in the second quarter
The Indiana women’s basketball team delivered a message in the first half of Sunday’s game — don’t write the team off just yet. The Hoosiers’ inspired effort helped them build a 16-point lead over Stanford.
The porous defense that plagued the team through the first three games was nowhere to be found as it held the Cardinal without a field goal for the first 7:25 of the second quarter. The highlight of the stretch was when IU came within a fraction of a second from forcing back-to-back shot clock violations.
Stanford finished the quarter with just nine points on 3 of 14 shooting (0 for 3 from 3-point range).
Indiana was just as locked in on offense as it scored nearly as many points (42) in the half as it did earlier in the week against Butler (46). The Hoosiers shot 51.6% in the half and knocked down six 3-pointers matching their season-high in a single game this year.
While they benefited from the improved shooting touch, IU’s offense sets were sharper and there was a team-wide effort to attack the basket.
It culminated with a 14-0 run in the quarter that gave the Hoosiers a 40-24 lead. Yarden Garzon knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during the stretch. The biggest cheers in Assembly Hall came when IU extended a possession with multiple offensive rebounds and swung the ball around to create an open layup for Lilly Meister.
Indiana women’s basketball turns to small ball against Stanford
Meister picked up her fourth foul of the game just eight seconds into the third quarter. Instead of replacing her with fellow big Karoline Striplin, Moren opted to go small with essentially what was a five-guard look. It was the longest stretch of the season Moren relied on a lineup without a center-like presence.
The move paid off with Yarden Garzon getting some key open looks as Stanford’s forwards struggled having to defend out at the perimeter. The Hoosiers’ lead never dipped under double-digits in the quarter.
Garzon had one of the best game’s of her career on Sunday with 18 points (4 of 7 from 3-point range), eight rebounds and three assists while avoiding the mistakes — she only had one turnover — that have plagued her in the past.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
