Steady Effort Leads Indiana Women Past Nebraska

Consistency on both ends of the floor helps the Hoosiers win key Big Ten contest.

Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) steals the ball from Nebraska's Kendall Moriarty (15) during the Indiana versus Nebraska women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On their West Coast trip, the Indiana women’s basketball team embodied staccato.

If you know your music, staccato is characterized by short, jumpy notes. It’s a rhythm that can take you from one end of the spectrum to another.

As a basketball metaphor, it means that Indiana had jarring stretches of both high and low quality in its 1-1 trip to Oregon and Washington.

Sunday W in The Hall.

Highlights from our victory over Nebraska. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/21JLQbrbn2

— Indiana Women’s Basketball (@IndianaWBB) February 2, 2025

On Sunday against Nebraska, Indiana found its legato – where notes are played smoothly and connected.

There were few variances in Indiana’s quality against Nebraska at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana took control early on with solid shooting and never relinquished control of the game in a 76-60 Big Ten Conference victory.

Indiana’s consistency was best exemplified by the score by quarters as the Hoosiers went 19-17-21-19 from start to finish. One reason was the consistency in so many fazes of the games.

Indiana shot 46% overall and didn’t have a single period where it shot worse than 40% or better than 52%. Part of that was a consistent 3-point attack throughout the contest. Apart from the third quarter, Indiana made four 3-pointers in each of the stanzas.

Indiana also shared the ball well – 25 assists on 29 field goals. Unlike the West Coast swing, Indiana also avoided turnovers, with only eight in the contest.

Yarden Garzon led Indiana for the second straight game with 19 points. Chloe Moore-McNeil had one of her best games of the season with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

“It's definitely very satisfying. Something in the fourth quarter that stuck out to me was when our other captain (Sydney Parrish) spoke out and pointed out that in these games time like that in the fourth quarter, we need to learn from our past mistakes and be more mature. And I think we did that today,” said Moore-McNeil, who along with Garzon, was honored before the game as Indiana’s newest members of the 1,000-point club.

Karoline Striplin continued to provide consistent production in the paint with 13 points. Sydney Parrish added 11 points.

As consistent as Indiana was on the offensive side, the defense was just as good.

While Nebraska shot 48% from the field, the Cornhuskers took 13 fewer shots than Indiana and had 17 turnovers. Indiana held Nebraska leading scorers Alexis Markowski (14.9 ppg) and Britt Prince (13.8) under their scoring averages. Prince had 11 points and Markowski was held to eight points, It was Markowski’s lowest scoring output in over a month.

“I thought we got after him defensively. I thought Chloe was terrific as far as just her focus on Britt Prince and just trying to make things difficult for her. We know how important she is to what Nebraska likes to do,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said.

Indiana's Yarden Garzon (12) makes a three pointer over Nebraska's Callin Hake (14) during the Indiana versus Nebraska women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Nebraska led 8-7 early in the game, but it proved to be its only lead. Indiana used an 8-0 run to expand its advantage to 15-8, and apart from a mini-Nebraska surge at the end of the first quarter the Hoosiers never looked back.

A 13-0 run that included Henna Sandvik’s 3-pointer to end the first quarter and a series of 3-pointers by Moore-McNeil and Garzon permanently put the Cornhuskers to rest. Indiana led 30-14 at the end of that surge and 36-24 at halftime.

The Hoosiers kept production consistent in the second half. Nebraska made shots, but they were almost always answered by the Hoosiers. During the entire second half, Indiana’s lead was never less than nine or more than 18.

The win is important for the Hoosiers. Nebraska is a team Indiana could be in a tiebreaker with come Big Ten Tournament time, and the Hoosiers will have that edge.

Indiana (14-7, 6-4) was in 10th place in the Big Ten entering Sunday’s games. To avoid playing five games in five days at the Big Ten Tournament, a team must finish ninth or better in the league.

It’s also an important win for the NCAA Tournament resume. Nebraska (16-6, 7-4) counts as a Quad 2 victory, and every little bit helps as the Hoosiers try to stay above the tournament bubble.

Indiana hosts Rutgers on Thursday.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• WHAT MOREN SAID: All of Indiana coach Teri Moren's postgame comments from the Nebraska game. CLICK HERE.

• BRACKETOLOGY: After West Coast trip, Indiana women inched closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble. CLICK HERE.

• MAKING A BIG TEN RUN: What do Indiana women need to do to finish in the top half of the Big Ten? CLICK HERE.