Yarden Garzon/Chloe Moore-McNeil Leads Hoosiers over Nebraska

By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports

    The Indiana Hoosiers are on a two-game winning streak after a 76-60 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers Sunday Afternoon in the annual Breast Cancer Awareness and National Girls and Women in Sports Day game. The Hoosiers are 14-7 on the season and 6-4 in the Big Ten and will host Rutgers on Thursday Night at 6 pm in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

   Nebraska drops to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the Big Ten. Indiana leads the all-time 13-6 and are 8-2 against the Cornhuskers at home including the last seven at home and three in a row in the series. Nebraska has not won in Bloomington since a 67-64 win on February 21, 2015.

   The Hoosiers wore special uniforms to honor Breast Cancer Awareness with Pink Letters and Numbers and White Jersey’s. Yarden Garzon led Indiana with 19 points after her career-high 35 last Monday at Washington. Garzon was 6-11 from the field, 5-9 from three-point range and 2-2 from the field. Chloe Moore-McNeil added 15 points going 5-7 from the field, 4-5 from three-point range and 1-2 from the free throw line.

   The pair were honored before the game by Head Coach Teri Moren after they became the 32nd and 33rd members of the IU Women’s Basketball’s 1,000-point club. Moren praised Moore-McNeil after the game as the Hoosiers go to player in clutch time. “When she goes, we go, we need her to go down the stretch and be consistent and be the player she was for us today.”

   Karoline Striplin scored 13 points and Sydney Parrish added 11 points as the Hoosiers finished 29-63 from the field for 48%, 13-30 from three-point range for 43% and 5-8 from free throw line for 62%.         The Hoosiers pulled down 31 rebounds, dished out 25 assists, 10 steals, 4 blocks and committed 17 turnovers. Indiana scored 28 points in the paint and 11 points off the bench.

   Freshman Petra Bozan led the Cornhuskers with 12 points and scored all of her points in the fourth quarter as all three double figure scorers for Nebraska were freshman Amiah Hargrove and Britt Prince added 11 points each. Senior Alexis Markowski who has been the leader and inside presence for the Cornhuskers was held to 8 points and 3 rebounds.

    Nebraska finished 24-50 from the field for 48%, 3-11 from three-point range for 27% and 9-15 form the field for 60%. The Cornhuskers pulled down 31 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 5 blocks, 4 steals and committed 17 turnovers. Nebraska got 28 points off their bench and scored 30 points in the paint.

    In the first quarter there were 2 ties and 3 lead change the Hoosiers hit 4 three pointers including a first quarter beater from Henna Sandvik as the Hoosiers led 21-14 after the first ten minutes. Indiana opened the second quarter on a 11-0 run as the Hoosiers kept their hot shooting from beyond the arc with three more triples as the Hoosiers led 32-14 with 6:18 left before the break.

   Nebraska held the Hoosiers scoreless for five minutes and fifteen seconds as the Huskers went on 10-0 run to cut the Indiana lead to nine points 32-23 with 2:04 left in the second quarter. Indiana had seven trips down the floor where they did not score. Chloe-Moore McNeil hit a free throw with 1:04 as Indiana scored their only point in 9 trips down the floor in that stretch. Yarden Garzon hit a step back three with six seconds left to give the Hoosiers a 36-24 lead into the locker room as Nebraska’s Britt Prince hit a three pointer at halftime that was waived off after the review determined she did not get the shot off in time.

    Indiana started the third quarter on a 6-0 run as Nebraska’s Logan Nisley hit a three-pointer ending a three minute and five second scoring drought to start the quarter. The Hoosiers maintained a double-digit lead throughout the quarter as they outscored the Cornhuskers 21-17 in the third quarter to lead 57-41 going into the final ten minutes of the game.

    Nebraska opened the fourth quarter with three straight baskets from Petra Bozan as the Huskers closed the gap to nine points 57-48 with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter. Indiana responded with a 7-0 run as Nebraska ended the run with a basket by Amiah Hargrove on a jumper with 5:05 left. The Hoosiers kept a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game as Nebraska did not get any closer than 13 points the rest for the rest of the game as both teams scored 19 points apiece as Cornhuskers made four of their last five field goals.

     The Hoosiers have eight Big Ten Conference games left with Rutgers, Purdue, Ohio State and Maryland at home along with road trips to Minnesota Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue. The Hoosiers have a lot of basketball left to be played and big goals ahead, but Indiana focused on a Nebraska team and Coach Moren was pleased with how the Hoosiers responded and executed. “Our group, as a whole, understood what they needed to do, and I think they executed the plan really well” Teri Moren said after the game.