One step forward. Two steps back.
That has been Indiana’s struggle this season. Every good game was met with one that knocked them right back down. That’s how it felt to start in Assembly Hall on Sunday.
The roads were icy. It was a sparse Sunday matinee crowd. The Hoosiers were without three players once again.
Despite all this, Indiana had nothing but momentum rolling into its clash against Eastern Michigan. It didn’t last long as Eastern Michigan gave Indiana everything they had before dropping 74-67.
For 30 minutes it was deadlocked but Indiana escaped in the fourth with some late heroics to move to 10-2 on the year.
Jerni Kiaku, in a moment nearly identical to her heroics on the road to beat Florida State, hit a crucial and-one layup to pull momentum back to the Hoosiers and score her 1,000th career point. Kiaku transferred to Indiana this offseason after stints at North Carolina Central and Duquesne.
“I’m always happy for those kids who have to sit over there and wait for their number to be called and then come out and impact games,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said of her veteran guard and her big moment. “We really needed that, right then and there.”
Indiana continued the momentum when Lenée Beaumont, who struggled shooting all day, buried a massive 3 and then got a steal and a 3-point play on a layup the very next play for a solo 6-0 run to ice it for the Hoosiers.
“Definitely knew I had to stay aggressive,” Beaumont said of her mentality despite the shots not falling. “I passed up a 3 on a great skip pass by this one. (Shay Ciezki) said shoot the ball. That type of encouragement helps.”
Ciezki and Beaumont played the one-two punch once again for Indiana as they had 25 and 15 points respectively on the day while playing a combined 76 of the 80 minutes in the game with Beaumont fouling out in the final period.
The story for Indiana on the day was rebounding as they struggled on the glass without Zania Socka-Nguemen once again. Moren provided an update saying that the Hoosiers would be missing their star center until after Christmas.
Indiana was again without Faith Wiseman and joining her was Valentyna Kadlecova as Moren said she missed the contest due to personal reasons.
Stepping up in this one was Virginia transfer Edessa Noyan as she scored a new high in the cream and crimson with 13 points. She had her hands full on both ends of the floor battling with Eastern Michigan’s star forward Sisi Eleko.
Eleko was one of 20 players in the country averaging a double-double per contest and kept that pace up with 15 points and 18 boards.
Indiana was fighting foul trouble against Eleko all day, with Maya Makalusky and Noyan ending with four fouls apiece while guarding her.
This foul trouble and the Eagles’ ability on the glass, topping the Hoosiers on the day by eight rebounds, kept them in the game when they started the contest making just one of their first 11 shots.
Moren came into the press conference with more of a sense of somberness rather than the fire she showed following their presser against Western Michigan.
Despite the shaky result, Moren said she is seeing growth in her young team.
“I think they are starting to get the message, all those things are controllable,” Moren said when asked about growth in her team's effort. “I don’t think anyone wants to come watch a team that doesn’t put their best effort for 40 minutes. We have a standard of how we are going to play and what our fans are used to and they are used to watching us regardless of the scoreboard, you know, play hard and have great effort for 40 minutes. And that will not change, that's the standard.”
In previous tune-up games, the feel around these escape wins were often those of a sigh of relief and a disappointment in the areas they lacked.
On Sunday, despite a narrow victory, Indiana continued to take steps forward in a crucial part of the season without Socka-Nguemen and right before conference play ramps up.
“We’re banged up right now, you know our depth and when you don’t have the depth you really have to manage that in practice,” Moren said about practice leading up and following the win. “We’re trying to get through the week, it's finals week around here so hopefully some of these guys can get off their feet.”
Indiana has a full week off before returning to Assembly Hall next Sunday against a two-win Western Carolina side before resuming conference play after Christmas.
