A decade-long rivalry win streak snapped. Eight straight losses.
That was the story when Indiana head coach Teri Moren and Lenée Beaumont walked into their postgame press conference after their loss to Purdue on Jan. 25. It had been an emotional season, you could see it in the teary eyes as they met with the media.
“This has never been the standard and it never will be,” Beaumont said about the team after the loss in West Lafayette. “The program that I committed to as a junior in high school is the same program I'm playing for.”
Now, two weeks later, flashes of that program are starting to resurface.
The quote today?
“You either get better or you get bitter,” Moren said on what needed to change after the last matchup.
The Hoosiers got better.
It was a vintage Indiana performance as they got back in the win column vs Purdue, beating the Boilermakers 74-59 in Bloomington. The win was their third straight, and it moved the Hoosiers to 14-11 and 3-10 in the Big Ten.
With a pink-out crowd behind them, the Hoosiers brought the energy early, opening the game on an 11-0 run within the first four minutes. The hot start was quickly squandered, as the Boilermakers cut into the lead, heading into the second quarter down just three.
On a night honoring Indiana alumni, Shay Ciezki put on a show, scoring 19 points in an opening half where she seemingly could not be denied.
When the dust settled, Ciezki finished with a stat line of 29 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Posting a double-double for the first time since November, the senior attacked the basket on both ends of the floor.
“I’m super proud of this group,” Ciezki said postgame. “It was a great team win.”
Heading into the matchup searching for a consistent presence down low, Edessa Noyan delivered her best performance of the season. The junior manned the middle, playing a significant part in holding the Boilermakers to just 33 percent from the field.
Over the course of the past 10 days, Moren’s questions of effort have dissipated. The tradition of physicality and relentlessness is returning to Assembly Hall.
While the stat sheet is almost entirely in favor of the Hoosiers, they had to overcome 17 turnovers compared to Purdue’s nine. It certainly was not the cleanest game for the home team; however, complementary basketball proved to be the deciding factor in this in-state rivalry.
“Not our best ball, but we are playing better,” Moren said. “We will hopefully have some confidence with that.”
During a game where the crowd generated buzz throughout the entire 40 minutes, Indiana played an old-fashioned style of basketball, relying almost exclusively on getting to the charity stripe and refined instincts defensively. The Hoosiers shot just 13 3s; however, they once again dominated from the free-throw line.
“One of the points on the board was to be aggressive and to get to the line,” Ciezki said. “We just wanted to make sure that that was a point of emphasis going into this game.”
Currently slotted in the 14th spot on the Big Ten standings, Indiana will look to further solidify themselves into the conference tournament, where the top 15 teams will compete. IU heads out west to take on the University of Southern California Thursday night. Tip is set for 10 p.m. Eastern.
