SIMON SKJODT ASSEMBLY HALL — After disappointing back-to-back losses, Indiana women’s basketball turned the corner with a 79-66 win over No. 24 Stanford.
“When you go through some rough patches I think you find out quickly what you’re made of,” said Teri Moren. “My hope for this group is they can see themselves in this game today and know that they can come out and perform this way every night.”
“They’ve been a little ticked off,” Moren added. “It’s never a bad thing to play a little mad.”
A lot has changed since Indiana lost to Stanford in California last year. Both teams lost their top two scorers, including one All-American on either side, and Stanford’s legendary head coach, Tara VanDerveer has since retired. However, Indiana's returners did not forget the 32-point defeat.
“Most of us knew know how it felt at Stanford last year and we didn’t want to feel it again, especially not after Butler,” said Yarden Garzon. “We really needed that win and I think everybody knew that.”
Chloe Moore-McNeil scored just 19 points across Indiana’s 1-2 start. Teri Moren went as far as calling her “lethargic” after the opening win over Brown. Moore-McNeil looked like a completely different player against the Cardinal. The graduate guard scored 21 points, just one shy of her career-high, including two threes. She added four steals on the defensive end.
“When Chloe shoots the ball the way she did today and she’s aggressive like that, we look like a whole different basketball team,” said Moren.
With 3:51 remaining in the third quarter Yarden Garzon hit her second of back-to-back threes in the corner bringing Assembly Hall back to its full voice. The triples extended Indiana’s lead to 15. It would peak at 19 at the end of the quarter.
“I know the coaches trust me and believe in me and my shot,” said Garzon. “Every time I see the basket I feel confident to shoot it.”
For a team that was so reliant on inside scoring in previous years, having their starting forward score just nine points was unusual. Lilly Meister got into foul trouble early and played just 19 minutes. Meanwhile, Garzon, whose ability to play all five positions had been lauded by Moren since her freshman year, got a significant run as the center.
“I feel confident there,” said Garzon. “I will be wherever Coach wants me to be, I just want to help the team to win, it doesn’t matter what position on the floor.”
Stanford entered the day as the top three-point shooting team by percentage in the country at 51 percent. The Cardinal sank two in the first quarter, but none after finishing 2-11 from deep. Their nine points in the second quarter was the fewest in a quarter this season. Moren called Julianna LaMendola the defensive MVP coming off the bench.
“We wanted them to feel our presence in how tight we were going to be,” said Moren. “That was part of our plan, to be the more physical team.”
Indiana moves to 2-2 on the season. They will play three games in Nassau, Bahamas next week in the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau. The first is scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern against Columbia on November 23.
