Coming off a win against Western Michigan that Indiana head coach Teri Moren described as “very, very disappointing,” Indiana needed a response in its Big Ten opener at Illinois.
Now the Hoosiers may have more questions than answers after a 78-57 dominant Illinois victory. Illinois led by as many as 36 before Indiana won the last period 25-10 to make it look better on the scoreboard. The loss would drop Indiana to 8-2 on the year and open conference play with a loss.
After winning their past seven Big Ten openers, Indiana was out of this game from the first quarter. Illinois would jump out to a 16-point lead in the first scoring 28 points in the period. They would extend it to 22 at halftime.
“Illinois just came out and punched us in the mouth,” Moren said. “We didn’t have a response and we didn’t respond… that was what was most disappointing. Obviously they played great and we did not, but I’m a little bit concerned about how we didn’t respond better.”
Indiana turned the ball over 12 times in the first half which is their goal for the entire game as a team. Indiana ended the day with 20 turnovers while allowing 19 points off turnovers.
Indiana was without star center Zania Socka-Nguemen for the third straight contest as she is “week to week,” Moren said, with a lower body injury. The Hoosiers felt this loss especially hard Saturday as they struggled to keep up with the Illini’s size getting outrebounded 39-30 with 11 offensive boards for Illinois.
Offensively, the Hoosiers struggled, shooting just 35.8% from the field. It was Shay Ciezki and Lenée Beaumont leading the way with 23 and 15 points respectively but they also combined for 11 turnovers. Virginia transfer Edessa Noyan would add 11 points, a new high in an Indiana jersey.
It’s now back to back disappointing performances for a team who impressed many in their contests down in Florida for Feast Week.
After the win against Western Michigan, Moren was already concerned about her team's performances in practice and the game against WMU but after a day like Saturday, the question is, how does Indiana respond?
The Hoosiers played well in their previous loss against Iowa State and played well enough to still beat Western Michigan by 18. Now for the first time for a lot of these players, they must deal with an ugly loss.
Despite a strong fourth quarter, it doesn’t erase that for most of the game, Illinois was flirting with making it its largest margin of victory against the Hoosiers since a 35-point victory in 1999.
Indiana, who at one point won 16 straight against Illinois from 2014 to 2023, now have lost three in a row with all of them being double digit wins for the Illini.
After opening conference play on a sour note, Indiana returns home for three straight non-conference tune-up games starting with the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Thursday.
