Reverse layups, post hooks and contested threes all fell through the net for No. 18 IU women’s basketball in the first half. The team’s passing set up its offense. Tight defense in the paint kept No. 13 Maryland off the scoreboard. Then something shifted. The Hoosiers lost 79-69 to the Terrapins on Thursday.
“The third quarter really did us in,” IU head coach Teri Moren said after the game.
The loss snapped their four-game winning streak. IU's strong shooting and tough defense throughout the first half did not translate into the third quarter.
“We had a great first half, and I don’t think we defended as well as we should have and that lead to easy points for them,” senior forward Brenna Wise said. “We became stagnant.”
After being up by four, IU’s offense went cold in the third. It turned the ball over six times and shot 33% from the floor. Maryland shot the ball well and more than doubled IU’s third quarter total.
Terrapin senior guard Kaila Charles led all scorers with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She created mismatches on the shorter Hoosier guards, taking advantage of open layups and jumpshots in transition. Her team scored a combined 14 points off Hoosier turnovers.
“Twenty-two points in transition was like watching a track meet,” Moren said. “They were flying down the floor and we hadn’t even turned around. That was disappointing to watch.”
Maryland freshman guard Ashley Owusu also helped in her time off the bench. The freshman added 19 points and scored multiple baskets in transition.
Owusu beat IU’s guards off the dribble with pull-up shots and plays at the rim. She set screens on junior guard Ali Patberg to allow Charles opportunities in the paint. IU was unable to stop either of the Maryland guards and fell behind by 10 in the second half.
“Their best game is transition, and our turnovers led to their transition and that’s why they got their lead,” Patberg said.
Patberg contributed five of her team’s turnovers but finished the night with 16 points and a season-high 11 assists. She found freshman forward Mackenzie Holmes below the rim early on and junior guard Jaelynn Penn from behind the arc.
Wise added nearly all of her points in the first quarter and kept the Terrapin forwards in single digits throughout the first half. She wove her way through the Terrapins and picked up key offensive rebounds that contributed to the Hoosiers’ first half success.
“We moved the ball, we made really good reads, we made the extra pass and we hit shots,” Patberg said. “We had less turnovers, took care of the ball and got what we practiced offensively.”
Multiple Hoosiers hit double figures but many of those points came during the first half. Holmes' left-handed hooks and Penn’s shooting production went cold in the second half and Patberg, who played the entirety of Thursday’s game, had to look for other options.
IU went on a 7-2 run to begin the fourth quarter but soon returned to trading baskets and getting beat in transition. Even when IU drew fouls, it could not convert at the free throw line to close in on Maryland.
The Hoosiers will travel west this weekend to face Nebraska at 3 p.m. Sunday in Lincoln, Nebraska.
