Indiana picked up their first Big Ten victory of the season over the Northwestern Wildcats 89-75 on Sunday, keeping their conference tournament hopes alive.
Calling any game that is not a win-or-go-home a “must win” sounds a little crazy. But after Thursday’s loss to Michigan, when Lenée Beaumont said IU was “desperate” for a win, Sunday’s contest felt like a “must win” game.
“We felt like there was a great opportunity in front of us,” head coach Teri Moren said regarding Indiana’s mindset coming into their matchup against Northwestern.
A winless team through 10 conference games. A winless month of January. But February is off to a hot start.
The game began with two free throws by Indiana’s Edessa Noyan and a successful and-one for Wildcat Tayla Thomas. Those three points would be the only points for Northwestern in the opening frame. Indiana came out guns-a-blazing right out of the gate. It was arguably one of the greatest quarters in IU history. Indiana dominated 30-3 on the backs of a 28-0 run in which the Wildcats were held scoreless for over nine minutes.
Beaumont led the way with 12 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting. senior guard Shay Ciezki was not too far behind with nine points in the first period.
“[The] first quarter was everything we wanted to happen,” Ciezki said. “But it definitely started on the defensive end. Our shots were falling. But they were only falling because we were able to box out, get rebounds and push. That was the big thing going into this game was rebounding.”
Indiana would outrebound Northwestern 37-28 throughout the game. And the 28-0 run in the first would continue to start the second; extending the run to 30-0 before a Wildcat triple — the first points for the road squad in over 10 minutes of action.
With a lead as large as Indiana had, this one never had a chance of slipping away. Although there was a minor scare in the final quarter.
“They started making shots. That’s the biggest part about their semi-comeback…but we were just kind of telling ourselves to calm down. We don’t have to worry,” Ciezki said.
She continued by adding Moren would repeat that last phrase multiple times in the huddle.
Moreso in the second half, Northwestern switched up their defense. They began running a full court, man-to-man aggressive pressure where they would trap Indiana’s primary ball-handler in the corner. While effective, forcing numerous IU turnovers leading to easy buckets, the deficit was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
Was it a matter of time before Indiana’s talent and coaching staff pulled off a victory? Of course. But nobody expected it like this.
“This feels a lot better than the previous ones…” Moren said. “The first quarter, just getting off to the start we did. You know a lot of different kids scored the ball.”
Moren praised her team's defensive efforts. Especially in their attempts to guard Grace Sullivan.
“(Sullivan) is a very hard matchup. She’s excellent. I thought we were sticking different people on her. She had 35 points. But there was also 28 attempts in that, right? So, you know, I think we did okay,” Moren said.
Sullivan wasn’t the only player who popped off. Ciezki went nuclear, tallying 33 points, eight rebounds, and five assists while shooting over 61% from the field and over 55% from deep. Ciezki, a 5-foot-7 guard, led the game in rebounding.
Freshman Maya Makalusky picked up her first conference win of her young collegiate career with 21 points shooting 8-for-12 from the field and knocking down four triples. Coming off a few big games, she’s started to find her stride as of late.
Beaumont added to the contributions with 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the field.
This three-headed monster combined for 78 of Indiana’s 89 points, building momentum with less than a month remaining before tournament play.
“We were at a low for more than we wanted to. But having this one, I think we can get a couple on the road here, with Wisconsin coming up next. We definitely see a couple more wins later in the stretch,” Ciezki said.
“The job’s not done yet,” Makalusky said. “We have a lot of big games coming up that we know we can get it done. But this just stamps the excitement and the energy and shows off that we are capable.”
“It only takes one,” Moren said. “Hopefull they will feel good about this one, but they understand that we have to go on the road and take on Wisconsin.”
Moren continued with her team's mindset.
“I want our group to continue to be the desperate team,” Moren said. “The desperation that we have to have to go on the road and be able to come out like we did in the first half…I thought we were really focused and locked in to what we had to do…and so you gotta be able to take all of that on the road.”
With a big win against the Wildcats, maybe the demons have been exorcised. Indiana will face another test on Wednesday against the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison.
