Hoosier Women's Basketball Drops Second Straight Game to Iowa

The Hoosiers headed to Iowa City in search of redemption but left with the same feeling of defeat as they dropped their second straight game to the Hawkeyes 88-82. Senior guard Grace Berger fought hard for her team putting up 22 points, but Iowa's Monika Czinano outdid her scoring 31 points to defend home court.

IOWA CITY, Iowa. — Indiana dropped its second straight game to the Iowa Hawkeyes 88-82 on the road after playing the Hawkeyes just two days before.

On Saturday, Indiana lost to the Hawkeyes 96-91 for the Hoosiers' last home game of the season. Senior guard Grace Berger said the team mostly watched film and did light court preparation ahead of the second game.

"I mean it sucks losing the past 3-4 games," Berger said as she trailed off to collect herself from tears in a post game press conference.

Berger led the Hoosiers with 22 points, her sixth 20-point game this season, and also tallied four rebounds and three steals. Her formerly injured teammate junior forward Mackenzie Holmes scored 13 points for her third game back after rehabbing a knee injury for eight games.

"I'm just going to continue to rehab the way I've been rehabbing," Holmes said. "I think it's going to be a matter of getting my endurance up, which I know will come with time."

Indiana head coach Teri Moren said Holmes hasn't been jumping much to avoid overstimulating her quad, but she had little bit more pop tonight. 

Moren added she was disappointed in Holmes's missed layups in the second half, but it has been hard to get in shape when there's no time to practice or lift with such quick turnarounds.

The Hoosiers shot 46.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from the three-point line compared to Iowa's respective 54.5 percent and 21.1 percent.

"We really feel like tonight was the first time we felt like we kind of looked like ourselves with Mack being in there, and there were moments that were really good," Moren said.

There were also moments when Iowa's senior forward Monika Czinano shined a little brighter. She ended with a double-double tallying 31 points and 10 rebounds. 

"She scores so quick," Moren said. "She gets you deep. She's talented. There's not a whole lot you can do because of her length at the rim."

In the first quarter, Iowa took an early 9-2 lead, but Indiana came barreling back into the game following a 12-0 run. Berger made it a 3-point play off of her and-1 with just more than five minutes to go. 

Berger then scored back-to-back baskets, and senior forward Aleksa Gulbe scored off of a second chance opportunity to build a lead.

During the first quarter, Gulbe also became the Hoosiers' 31st player to reach 1,000 career points. Graduate student guard Ali Patberg, Holmes and Berger also hold this honor as part of the first time in history one roster features four active 1,000-point scorers.

The Hoosiers earned 11 points off of turnovers but still came out of the first quarter shorthanded as Iowa led 26-23.

In the second quarter, the Hoosiers popped off on a 12-0 run for their largest lead yet following graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary's bucket with two and a half minutes to go.

.@nikkich_14 turns the corner and scores!

It's a 14-0 run for the Hoosiers and a 48-36 lead #iuwbb pic.twitter.com/PjbAHL0Y1L

— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) February 22, 2022

Indiana held a comfortable 52-41 lead at the buzzer, but that didn't last long.

The Hoosiers latched onto a pair of 10-point leads throughout the third quarter, but the Hawkeyes kept clawing back.

Holmes brought the Hoosiers' lead back up to seven with more than three minutes to play, but Iowa closed the gap to a 4-point game going into the final period.

Iowa shot 62.9 percent from the field in the final period scoring 26 points. Indiana stayed with them but only hit one bucket in the final 1:12 of the game.

Foul trouble swarmed the Hoosiers as both Cardaño-Hillary and Holmes fouled out in the fourth. Holmes said it was tough down the stretch because Indiana players were being subbed in and out to avoid fouling out.

"I have to be very careful with how I answer this," Moren said. "The foul count was a problem for us. Some of the calls that were made were a problem for me. For Cait Clark to be able to initiate 11 fouls is crazy."

Up next, the Hoosiers will get a break before Maryland comes to town on Friday. After four 1-day preparation periods, Moren is grateful to regroup back home in Indiana.

"These kids need rest," Moren said. "They've given everything we've asked them to do. They deserve this day off more than anybody in the country right now in terms of the schedule they've been dealt."

Moren said she's disappointed, and she wants her group to be disappointed as well, but the Hoosiers refuse to be discouraged for long.

"I think it's okay to be disappointed," Berger said. "At the end of the day, the post season is what we play for, and it sucks right now, but I think we can use these games to learn a lot and really hit our stride at the right time for the Big Ten tournament and NCAA tournament."

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