Indiana women’s basketball has experienced several concerning trends this season: turnover problems, fouling too much and a lack of scoring other than senior guard Shay Ciezki.
But there has been one trend — especially in Big Ten play — that has continued to recur in almost every game this season. A lack of urgency, effort and scoring has plagued Indiana in the third quarter.
And the pattern continued Thursday for the Hoosiers. Entering the locker room at halftime, Indiana led 42-32. By 3:34 in the third frame, the Hoosiers had lost their 10-point lead and were down 50-47.
When the clock struck zero, Indiana had been outscored 27-13 in the second half, and all the Hoosiers’ momentum from the first was gone. Indiana’s mistakes allowed No. 12 Ohio State to capitalize, winning 81-67 and dropping the Hoosiers to 0-8 in conference games.
“We know that the third quarters have been an ongoing problem for us throughout the year,” Indiana redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont said postgame. “And we've tried different things. We all say the right stuff. We all talk about the right stuff.”
Indiana can talk the talk all it wants, but the Hoosiers haven’t walked the walk. The Buckeyes came out in the third quarter and made 58.8% of their attempts from the field. Plus, Ohio State was able to take 17 shots while Indiana only had five attempts.
The discrepancy in shot attempts was helped by the Hoosiers committing 10 turnovers in the quarter. Ohio State only had one. Ciezki led the way with three, but seven out of the eight Indiana players that saw action inside the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, had at least one turnover.
Yes, Ohio State plays a dominating press defense that wears out opponents, but Indiana saw the defense strategy in the first half and had time to make changes. The Hoosiers committed 11 turnovers in the first and second quarters combined, but the problem worsened as the game went on.
“It's self-inflicted stuff that we have to be able to take care of and rely on each other for,” Beaumont said. “So, we got to be able to get stops, and hopefully we could get out and play fast as a result.”
The self-inflicted wounds have worsened as conference play has unfolded.
Bear with me here. Indiana has been outscored in the third quarter: 20-16 against Washington. 19-4 against then-No. 14 Iowa. 23-17 versus then-No. 7 Maryland. 21-12 against then-No. 24 Michigan State. 17-5 versus Minnesota. And finally, 23-9 against Illinois.
Including Thursday, that’s seven out of the eight games that Indiana has played against Big Ten competition where the Hoosiers were outscored in the third frame. The anomaly was outscoring then-No. 25 Nebraska 23-15. Still, Indiana could not win that game.
Returning to the loss to Ohio State, Indiana only produced four points from the field out of its 13 total in the third quarter. Beaumont made a layup with 8:17 remaining and a 10-point Indiana lead, while Ciezki also provided a layup with 1:36 on the clock to tie the game. Other than those two buckets, nine of Indiana’s points came from free throws.
For Ohio State, it was a more well-rounded approach to its scoring output. The Buckeyes knocked down three 3-pointers, had eight points in the paint and 12 points off Indiana’s 10 turnovers.
And the 3-pointers killed the Hoosiers. Ohio State sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge made a triple to tie the game at 47-47, and after a turnover from Ciezki, freshman guard Bryn Martin drained one from beyond the arc to give the Buckeyes their first lead of the game with 3:34 on the clock.
“They hit back-to-back threes, and so those are back breakers for us,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “It was more about Ohio State pressing and doing what they do, and doing what they're great at ... And we just didn't handle ourselves the way we needed to.”
Indiana’s roster was supposed to be able to play against the athleticism, strength and quickness of Big Ten opponents. But eight games into the Big Ten schedule, the Hoosiers have shown none of those signs. The third-quarter issues are a microcosm of the overall problems for Indiana this season.
Regardless, Indiana finally has a chance to play competition that, on paper, is the same skill level as the Hoosiers. In all of the first eight games of conference play, Indiana has competed against higher-ranked opponents in the NCAA NET rankings.
But Sunday against Purdue provides a chance for Indiana to salvage a lost season. Still, with 10 games left, it would be a miracle not seen since — well, I guess Indiana football’s turnaround from 3-9 in 2023 to 16-0 and national champions — if the Hoosiers were able to win all 10.
Coming back down to reality, Indiana can’t let third-quarter problems continue against the Boilermakers. The Hoosiers have a chance to pick up their first Big Ten victory at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, and a strong third quarter can help their odds.
“They know what they have to do,” Moren said postgame. “The next step is being able to go out and do it for 40 (minutes), for four quarters.”
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.
