In most games of basketball, shooting better than the opposing team is a surefire way to end up on the winning side come the final buzzer.
“If you would have told me that we were going to shoot, you know, 56% from the field, 64% from the three point and 92% from the free throw line,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “I probably would have guessed that team would’ve won the game.”
However, that is not always the case.
It wasn’t for Indiana women’s basketball on Thursday, as the Hoosiers fell to No. 12 Ohio State 81-67 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Indiana shot 56.4% from the field Thursday night, also managing to hit 64.7% of its 3-point attempts. Ohio State, by contrast, shot 48.4% from the field and 38.9% from 3-point range.
However, field goal percentage did not tell the whole story of the matchup. The Buckeyes shot 25 more field goal attempts on the night, attempting 64 compared to the Hoosiers’ 39.
The large discrepancy in shot attempts between the two sides can largely be attributed to turnovers. Indiana turned the ball over 26 times against Ohio State, marking its second highest tally of the season behind committing 28 turnovers in a 57-51 victory over Marshall University on Nov. 11. The Buckeyes, in comparison, committed just seven turnovers.
The Hoosiers have struggled all season with committing more turnovers than they force. Only in two games has Indiana forced as many or more turnovers than they gave up — in its regular season opener against Lipscomb University on Nov. 4 and against Western Michigan University on Dec. 3.
On a night where the ball went in for the Hoosiers, things still managed to go sideways.
“The unfortunate thing is,” Moren said, “if you give another team 25 extra shot attempts, you know, you’re not gonna win. And really, that’s the game right there. Too many turnovers, 16 steals, just really hurt us once again tonight.”
Senior guard Shay Ciezki and redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont led the team with five turnovers each, with sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen and freshman guard Nevaeh Caffey logging four each, as well.
“I think that goes back to just kind of helping each other,” Beaumont said postgame. “We got to be more aware. We got to be willing to help each other, but we got to just value the ball. I know it sounds simple, but it’s not like we don’t work on it every single day at practice and be smart with our possessions. And the Big Ten is way too competitive to give them 26 extra opportunities off of our turnovers.”
Strictly in terms of field goal percentage, Indiana shot its second highest mark of the season against Ohio State. The only match where that figure was higher was when the Hoosiers shot 64.2% from the field against the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Dec. 11.
Indiana women’s basketball currently holds a revolving door of issues, some of which have no resolution in sight. Both turnovers and shooting have been problems for the Hoosiers over the course of the season, with the former rearing its ugly head versus the Buckeyes. It seems like whenever Indiana performs well in one statistical category, it has an off night in another. The Hoosiers will have to pool together a complete performance in order to scrape together their first Big Ten win.
“Look, we are in this with you,” Moren said. “We’re in this fight with you, we’re going to keep our nose down, we’re going to keep the blinders on, we’re going to keep the noise out, and we're just going to keep working. And sooner or later, you know, we’re going to be able to put four quarters together.”
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.
