Coming off an exciting overtime victory for Indiana against Purdue three weeks ago, the Hoosiers were able to have a more comfortable victory Sunday against the Boilermakers.
The Hoosiers held off a tough Boilermakers team 64-57. Indiana now has beaten Purdue seven straight times.
This was a huge game for the Hoosiers to make sure they were able to keep up in the Big Ten. The offense struggled early on as they went down 8-2 in the first few minutes, but they were able to get it going once sophomore Chloe Moore-McNeil entered the game and hit a couple of huge shots. She ended with her first double-double of her career tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds. The bench was huge for the Hoosiers, especially Moore-McNeil.
“We know the potential and what Chloe can bring to our team and it was so exciting for you guys to see it as well, not just us,” Nicole Cardaño-Hillary said. “Chloe not only gives us energy on defense but on offense she is knocking down shots.”
Indiana started to step it up defensively in the last five minutes of the second quarter by applying pressure on defense and forcing turnovers. Purdue ended the game with 18 turnovers. Indiana scored 23 points off those turnovers.
“I think our intensity, the energy that all of us bring, and we feed off each other on defense and that leads us into our offense,” Cardaño-Hillary said.
Another key on the defensive end was guarding sophomore Madison Layden, the leading scorer for the Boilers entering the game. Layden had 15 points in the last matchup against the Hoosiers. Layden was held scoreless finishing 0-7 from the field. A lot of Layden’s struggles can be attributed to the defense of guard Ali Patberg. Although Patberg only scored 2 points her impact went way beyond the box score.
“Ali being the senior veteran that she is, understands that in order for her to help her team that can come in all different kinds of ways and it might not be scoring but it certainly will be guarding,” Teri Moren said.
Even though the Hoosiers had a double-digit lead most of the game, the Boilermakers wouldn’t go away without a late game push. They forced many Indiana turnovers late in the game and held the Hoosiers without a field goal for more than 2 minutes to end the game. Luckily for the Hoosiers, their free throw shooting was excellent down the stretch including Grace Berger going 4-4 from the charity stripe in the final minute.
There was a whopping 7,891 in attendance at Assembly Hall today, making it the 5th largest crowd ever for a women’s basketball game at Indiana. The crowd came into play throughout the game.
“I think we are really grateful to have a crowd like that in a game we needed the most because they are a rival and we knew they were going to come in here and play with everything they had,” Moore-McNeil said.
Indiana will look to extend their win streak to three as they travel to Champaign to face the Illinois Fighting Illini on Wednesday, February 9th. The game can be heard on WIUX 99.1 FM and on the online stream HERE with William McDermott and Joe Brennan on the call from the State Farm Center.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IU ATHLETICS
