Indiana Can’t Find Shooting Touch In Battle 4 Atlantis Loss To North Carolina

Without Sydney Parrish, the Hoosiers couldn’t muster consistent offense to keep up with the Tar Heels in a 69-39 defeat.

Indiana Hoosiers forward Lilly Meister (52) shoots over North Carolina Tar Heels guard Lexi Donarski (20) during the first half at the Atlantis Resort. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The on-again, off-again Indiana women’s basketball team was badly off Monday in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game against No. 16 North Carolina.

Indiana only connected on 29.1% of its shots and didn’t make any 3-point shots in the second half. Playing without starting guard Sydney Parrish, the Hoosiers were beaten 69-39 by the Tar Heels and finished as the runner-up in the three-game, eight-team tournament.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Hoosiers, who had shown the positive side of themselves in a 73-65 win over No. 18 Baylor on Sunday in a semifinal.

“Was not our best day. It was their best day. (North Carolina) played really well. Hit a lot of shots early game. Gave themselves a lot of confidence. We just didn't have the urgency we needed today to get out and create any sort of resistance for them offensively,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said.

The Hoosiers (4-3) didn’t shoot great in the win against the Bears, but they made up for it by making 26 of 30 at the free throw line. There were no such lifelines for Indiana on Monday. Indiana only went to the line five times against the Tar Heels.

In addition to poor shooting, the Hoosiers turned the ball over 16 times. Yarden Garzon, who led the Hoosiers with 10 points, also had five turnovers and only scored two points in the second half.

One bright spot for the Hoosiers was the production of sophomore Julianna LaMendola. She had six points, but added 11 rebounds.

Still, Indiana’s depth and chemistry is being tested by injuries. Just as Lexus Bargesser came back from an injury that caused her to miss the first four games of the season, Parrish suffered a leg injury against Baylor to put the Hoosiers right back in a short-handed situation.

“It's been tough, because we haven't played with what we thought our full roster was going to look like,” Moren said.

Indiana Hoosiers guard Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) and Indiana Hoosiers guard Shay Ciezki (10) and North Carolina Tar Heels guard Grace Townsend (2) battle for a loose ball during the first half at the Atlantis Resort. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

“We don't know how much longer Syd's going to be out,” Moren noted. “We'll have to get back to Bloomington and start to figure out how we can move our pieces around. How we can put a five on the floor that can hopefully gel quicker than we've been able to.”

It’s been frustrating for the players to struggle with consistency.

“That wasn't us today, that wasn't us at all, and I take full responsibility as one of our leaders, because I can't allow that to happen,” Indiana point guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said.

“The coaches, they can get on us all they want and hype us up and keep us positive, but at the end of the day, it's got to be on us as players to get it together,” she continued.

Both teams struggled from the field to start as each made just 4 of 16 shots in the opening quarter. North Carolina had a slim 11-10 lead at the end of the period.

The game was competitive well into the second quarter as a Bargesser jumper with 5:35 left gave the Hoosiers a 17-16 lead, but the Tar Heels would go on a 12-4 run to take a 26-19 lead with 1:42 left in the half.

Included in the Tar Heels’ surge was a pair of 3-pointers by Trayanna Crisp, who had three in the quarter and five in the game on her way to a 15-point effort. North Carolina led 32-26 at halftime.

That manageable deficit for the Hoosiers quickly became unmanageable. The Tar Heels made three of their first four shots of the second half, and the Hoosiers couldn’t keep up. A Ciara Toomey 3-point with 4:26 left in the period staked the Tar Heels to a 45-28 lead.

It would go from bad to worse for the Hoosiers. Indiana missed 14 of its last 16 shots as North Carolina surged to a 30-point victory margin.

Nov 25, 2024; Paradise Island, Bahamas, BHS; North Carolina Tar Heels players celebrate after the win against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Atlantis Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

“Give them a lot of credit. They were very physical with us. We didn't handle that well,” Moren said. “Teams that have been like that with us. You think about Harvard, really physical with us. Carolina, very physical with us. And we're just not responding, not handling ourselves in those scenarios well enough right now.”

It was a 2-1 trip for Indiana, but Indiana is still striving for consistency.

“Our kids battled the first two games to get themselves in the championship game, but really disappointed for all of us. I just know that we're a much better basketball team than we played like today,” Moren said.

Indiana hosts Maine at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.

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• INDIANA BEATS COLUMBIA IN THE BAHAMAS: Indiana broke free from Columbia in final minutes as the Hoosiers advance to play Baylor in The Bahamas. CLICK HERE

• INDIANA BEATS BAYLOR TO ADVANCE TO BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS TITLE GAME: Shay Ciezki's 34 points leads the Hoosiers to the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. CLICK HERE.