Hoosiers Now

Indiana Women's Basketball Comes Alive in the Fourth Quarter to Defeat Minnesota by Ten

The No. 5-ranked Hoosiers remain undefeated at home in Big Ten play after beating Minnesota 80-70 in a near-empty Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Senior forward Aleksa Gulbe led Indiana with a career high 28 points going 11-for-15 from the field.

Haley Jordan

IU Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — On a snowy February evening, the Hoosiers plowed Minnesota with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter finishing with an 80-70 victory over the Golden Gophers.

"I think that we are still a team that is sort of still trying to create some momentum for ourselves, create some rhythm for ourselves," Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. 

The crowd certainly didn't help boost the rhythm. Only a select amount of student fans were present due to the weather conditions and the program's emphasis for essential personnel only. 

"Trust me, we didn't want to go back to last year and not having fans in the seats," Moren said. "We miss our fans. I think that they would have given us a little more energy tonight."

This was only the second game back for Indiana following a 15-day break due to COVID-19 protocol. The team has also been without starting junior forward Mackenzie Holmes, who is coming off a knee surgery, for four games.

"We're playing a lot of different pieces," Moren said. "We're playing differently than we are used to, so there certainly have been some hiccups along the way, but I thought we finally, in the fourth quarter, when they got out of their zone and started guarding us man-to-man, we had some timely plays that we made and really happy with the way Leks (Gulbe) played tonight. She was huge beyond the arc."

Four Hoosier players scored in double figures contributing to Indiana's 50.9 shooting percentage from the field including senior forward Aleksa Gulbe.

She put up a career-high 28 points going 11-for-15 from the field and 4-for-4 from the arc while senior guard Grace Berger also posed a standout night posting her fourth career double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She also tallied eight assists. 

At the end of the first quarter, the Hoosiers were down by four points, but graduate student guard Ali Patberg looked for freshman guard Kaitlin Peterson down low to top off a 9-0 run and take a 25-21 lead.

The second half went back and forth. Gulbe swished her first three pointer of the night with just more than two minutes to play before the half, but Minnesota graduate student guard Deja Winters responded with a three of her own to tie it back up.

Before the buzzer, junior guard Sara Scalia capitalized on an and-1 opportunity to bring her Golden Gophers a 37-36 lead at the half.

"Sara Scalia is a tough guard," Moren said.

The Gophers went on a 6-0 run to start the third quarter before sophomore forward Kiandra Browne hit a wide open layup to break their streak.

A Berger steal brought the Hoosiers to a one-possession game. With two seconds to go, Berger hit a jumper bringing Indiana within one.

The fourth quarter was all Hoosiers who had a 14-0 run in the final five minutes of play. Indiana widened the gap in the fourth with crucial shots from Gulbe, Patberg and graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary to finish strong.

Moren added junior guard Grace Waggoner gave great minutes in the fourth and did some nice things defensively.

"A great win — we know they all aren't pretty," Moren said. "We know that, but I thought the Hoosiers found a way to win a tough game tonight in a tough atmosphere."

Up next, Indiana will face rival Purdue for the second time this season on Sunday. This time, the Boilermakers will head to the Hall for a chance at redemption.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

  • HOOSIERS WILL FACE THE GOLDEN GOPHERS AT HOME: Welcome back to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for Indiana's first home game since Jan. 13. The Hoosiers will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers who are coming off of a win over Wisconsin earlier this week. CLICK HERE. 
  • INDIANA DROPS FIRST BIG TEN GAME OF THE SEASON TO MICHIGAN: Coming off of a 15-day break, the Hoosiers appeared rusty and lacked fluidity on offense, Indiana head coach Teri Moren said. The Wolverines capitalized on its first win over a top five ranked team at home in program history defeating Indiana 65-50. CLICK HERE.
  • HOOSIERS CLIMB TO NO. 5 IN AP POLL: For more than a month, the Hoosiers hugged the No. 6 spot in the Associated Press Poll, but Tennessee's loss to Auburn moved Indiana up to the top five even after the Hoosiers' 15-day COVID-19 break. CLICK HERE.
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Haley Jordan
HALEY JORDAN

Haley Jordan is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation video director, staff writer, host and reporter for Hoosiers Now, Fastball and Fastbreak sites. She is a graduate from Indiana University with degrees in Sports Broadcast Journalism and Spanish.

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