Indiana women’s basketball has struggled when holding a lead throughout the season.
Against then-No. 14 Iowa on Jan. 11, the Hoosiers held a 16-point halftime advantage, but started to crumble in the final two quarters.
The Hoosiers made just two total baskets and committed five turnovers en route to getting outscored 19-4 in the third quarter. Then, Indiana folded under the pressure of trying to pull out a win in the final moments and fell to Iowa by three points.
So even when Indiana held a staggering 36-point lead over Northwestern midway through the second quarter of its contest Sunday, its advantage wasn’t safe.
The Wildcats began to chip into the Hoosiers' lead in the second quarter, as Indiana only led by 29 points by halftime. Then midway through the fourth frame, the Hoosiers led by just 10 points.
Despite starting to crumble once again in the second half, the Hoosiers dominant first half — which included a 30-0 run over a nearly 10-minute span — kept it ahead of the Wildcats to ultimately win 89-75 at Simon Skjdot Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Just under a minute into the first quarter, Indiana was down 3-2, but a basket from redshirt sophomore guard Lenée Beaumont gave the Hoosiers a spark and started the run of 30 consecutive points.
The Hoosiers missed just two of their 16 shot attempts over that span, and Beaumont scored 12 of the 30 points. Indiana also stopped Northwestern’s offense, led by senior forward Grace Sullivan. Sullivan, who is second in the Big Ten in scoring with 22.4 points per game, went 0 for 6 from the field in the first quarter.
Holding a halftime lead in Big Ten play wasn’t new for the Hoosiers, but keeping the lead — and the momentum that gave them the advantage — was.
"We've been in these spots before,” senior guard Shay Ciezki said postgame. "I think this was a great step for us to understand that we have a lead, and we have to hold the lead. We're not gonna be up 40 the whole entire game. I think we also have to know that, too.”
While the 36-point lead over Northwestern wasn’t as easy to give up as the 16 point advantage earlier in January, the Hoosiers still needed to hold on to pull off its first Big Ten win. That became harder as the game went on.
The Wildcats whittled into the Hoosiers’ lead not only by starting to make more of its shots, but pressuring Indiana defensively. Northwestern employed a full-court press at times throughout the second half, which Indiana has struggled against this season.
The press was an obstacle in the Hoosiers’ Jan. 22 loss to Ohio State, when the Hoosiers suffered 26 turnovers and were suffocated by the Buckeye’s defensive efforts in the second half.
Indiana had 10 turnovers in the second half compared to just four in the first. Ciezki said she thought once the Hoosiers committed a few turnovers off the full-court press, they began to figure it out and made the necessary adjustments.
The changes proved to be successful as Indiana pulled off its first conference win of the season, one freshman forward Maya Makalusky said the Hoosiers were “desperate” for.
While the Hoosiers were able to get away with their mistakes in the second half against Northwestern, Indiana won’t be able to do the same against some of the other Big Ten opponents remaining on its schedule.
Indiana’s next chance is against Wisconsin, which has pulled off two wins over ranked opponents this season. Then Purdue, which already defeated the Hoosiers 80-69 on Jan. 25. And after that, its West Coast swing with games against USC and UCLA.
The win over Northwestern could be a momentum boost for the Hoosiers, which are now 1-10 in the Big Ten. But maintaining that momentum will be a challenge, just like maintaining a lead has been for the Hoosiers all season.
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.
