After four Big Ten contests this season, Indiana women’s basketball is still without a conference win.
The Hoosiers fell to No. 7 Maryland 82-67 Sunday at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland. Freshman forward Maya Makalusky led Indiana with 20 points off 6-for-13 shooting from 3-point range.
The loss dropped Indiana to 0-4 in conference contests, last seen in the 2011-12 season under former head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. In that season, Indiana finished Big Ten play with a 1-15 record.
Sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen returned to the Hoosiers’ lineup after missing the last eight games with an injury. The Silver Spring, Maryland, native picked up four fouls in the first half. She played 17 minutes in her first game back, recording four points and three rebounds.
Maryland got out to an early seven-point lead just under four minutes into the contest. However, Indiana went on a 9-1 run to take a one-point lead just about two minutes later.
The Hoosiers’ lead didn’t last long, as a personal foul from redshirt sophomore Lenée Beaumont sent Terrapin redshirt senior guard Saylor Poffenbarger to the free-throw line. Poffenbarger made both of her attempts to regain Maryland’s lead, which grew to five points by the end of the first period.
Indiana struggled with fouling Maryland throughout the first quarter, committing seven personal fouls to the Terrapins’ one. Maryland scored seven points from the charity stripe in the first period.
Indiana recorded five more fouls in the second quarter. The Hoosiers also struggled with turnovers, committing 16 in the first half.
Despite Indiana’s mistakes, the Terrapins only extended their lead by two points by halftime, holding a 39-32 lead over the Hoosiers. Indiana shot 64.7% from the field and 62.5% from range at the break.
However, the Hoosiers’ shooting went cold after halftime, as their first field goal came nearly halfway through the third period with a layup from Socka-Nguemen. The poor performance on the offensive end in the third period allowed Maryland to pull ahead of Indiana 62-49.
Maryland then cruised to a 15-point win over the Hoosiers. Terrapin junior guard Oluchi Okananwa recorded 34 points off 12-for-22 shooting in the contest. Senior guard Yarden Garzon, who transferred to Maryland from Indiana in April, scored eight points against her former team.
Indiana, now 11-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten, will continue its road stretch against No. 20 Nebraska at 8 p.m. Thursday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. The contest will stream on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Savannah Slone (@savrivers06 and srslone@iu.edu) and Max Schneider (maxschn@iu.edu) and columnist Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
