BLOOMINGTON — Indiana women’s basketball had its senior night spoiled, as No. 19 Maryland waltzed into Assembly Hall and got a 74-60 Victory. Indiana has now fallen in back-to-back games after its upset of Ohio State last week. Here’s how Indiana (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) fell to Maryland (22-6, 12-5) on Thursday.
Hoosiers’ offense disappears
Indiana’s offense had nothing going for it, especially in the first half. Indiana scored just 20 first-half points, which is the least it has scored in a half this season. While the second half was better offensively for the Hoosiers, it wasn’t enough to beat a talented Maryland squad.
That first half saw the Hoosiers go on two seismic scoring droughts, as they went 3:49 without scoring in the first quarter then 5:31 without scoring in the second frame. Simply put, two dry spells amassing over nine minutes of play won’t get you where you’d like to go against a quality team.
The lack of bench production hindered Indiana on Thursday. The Hoosiers did not score a single point off the bench, as starters accounted for all 60 of Indiana’s points. Indiana’s inability to build consistent depth has been an issue for a few seasons now.
While Indiana has a solid defense, it wins a lot of its game with offense. On nights where the offense isn’t gelling like it
should, the Hoosiers struggle to beat good teams.
Sellers shuts the door
After scoring only two points for Maryland in the first half, two-time All-Big Ten selection Shyanne Sellers woke up and dominated in the second half. Sellers logged 23 second-half points with 21 of them coming in the fourth quarter alone.
Any time a team holds a player like Sellers as quiet as IU did in the first half, that team shouldn’t expect to be down 10. IU allowed Maryland to build a somewhat-comfortable lead before its leader woke up. Once Sellers got going, it was over for the Hoosiers.
Sellers handled the ball with supreme confidence in the fourth quarter, knowing that the offense would run through her. She hit clutch shot after clutch shot, as her 25 points buried the Hoosiers and their senior celebration.
IU doesn’t defend paint
It felt like — for several portions of the evening — Maryland got what it wanted inside of the lane. Maryland tallied 30 points inside the paint on its way to victory.
There were multiple occasions when Indiana defenders seemed to lose Maryland players behind the play. Mix that with the drives Maryland produced to get by defenders, and you have a night where one team does more damage inside than the other.
Going forward, the Hoosiers aren’t athletic enough to surrender points due to miscommunications. IU’s defenders can’t get caught ball-watching to the magnitude they did several times on Thursday as the team continues to make its NCAA Tournament push.
