It’s hard to imagine Indiana in a worse position entering halftime against Nebraska on Wednesday.
The Hoosiers were down 45-28, three starters picked up two fouls each in the first quarter alone and the Cornhuskers found a mismatch with forward Amiah Hargrove scoring 19 points on 8-9 shooting almost entirely within the 3-point line. If that wasn’t enough, Nebraska star guard Britt Prince was in rhythm early with 13 first half points of her own.
If there was a mismatch, Nebraska found and exploited
it. If there was a mistake, Indiana found and made it. The Huskers were on pace for a cool 90 points to add onto tournament hopeful resume while the Hoosiers were playing not to be sent home.
Then Indiana head coach Teri Moren took her team into the locker room and you’d think she came back with an entirely different group.
Nebraska scored 29 of those 45 first half points in the first quarter alone with more assists (8) than missed field goals (5) in the game’s first ten minutes. That same offense generated just 24 points total in the game’s final twenty minutes. Hargrove wasn’t getting the ball nearly as often as Prince began to settle for tougher shots, going just 2-10 from the field in the second half.
Suddenly it was the Huskers who couldn’t guard the Hoosiers’ offense as Indiana nearly equaled their opponent’s first half scoring output with 44 points in the second half. It wasn’t a one-two punch like Nebraska had with Hargrove and Prince though, with five different Hoosiers scored at least 6 points as Indiana fought back into the game.
A late 3-pointer from Beaumont gave Indiana the lead it was desperately fighting for, one it’d hold for the final minute of the game to keep its season alive and advance.
This is just what Teri Moren’s Indiana teams do. No deficit is too great, no heads are hung. If there’s a ball on the court and time on the clock, Moren’s team is playing to win. That’s remained true through roster turnover these past several years.
The players may change, but two things don’t: the coach and the fight.
There’s no doubt this season is below Indiana’s standards of NCAA Tournament contention, but the coach who built said standards remains on the sideline trying to get back there.
She, like her players, isn’t giving up anytime soon.
