No. 15 Indiana Grinds Out Fourth-Straight Win over Illinois

Ali Patberg scored 16 points and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary added 11 as Indiana pulled out an eight-point victory over Illinois on the road Sunday.

Dylan Wallace | Feb 14, 2021

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Well, that was ugly.

Those were the direct words from head coach Teri Moren after the No. 15-ranked Hoosiers defeated the Illini 58-50 in Champaign on Sunday afternoon.

The game was sloppy from the start as both teams turned it over four times in the first five minutes. After the first quarter in which Indiana held a four-point lead, both teams were shooting below 26% from the floor.

The second quarter is where Indiana did most of its damage. Just two minutes into quarter the Hoosiers were already on an 8-0 run, forcing Illinois into numerous turnovers to get out on the fast break and get transition buckets.

Indiana also imposed its will in the paint, drawing contact and getting to the free-throw line 20 times in the first half. Indiana knocked down 16 of those free throws and wound up with a 13-point lead heading into halftime.

"I think that was definitely an emphasis," Nicole Cardaño-Hillary said. "We're in the bonus, and we just gotta get up and make those free throws."

Even though most of the whistles went into Indiana's favor, Moren admits it really eliminated any chance of either team getting into a rhythm throughout the first half.

"I don't want to complain about getting to the free-throw line, as a matter of fact that probably got us our lead, but any time there's disruption at the rate the game was being called, I think it's really hard to have any flow or any pace to a game," Moren said. "It benefited us tonight, but I think both teams would be in favor of less free throws being shot."

The third quarter started in a similar fashion as the first quarter, and that's with both teams really struggling to score the ball.

Indiana was taking care of the ball, but the Hoosiers couldn't put the ball in the basket. Illinois ended the final 6:21 of the third quarter on a 12-2 and cut the lead to just seven points heading into the fourth.

The offensive struggles continued for Indiana as Illinois kept chipping away at the lead. Aleksa Gulbe hit back-to-back jumpers to keep the Illini at an arms length, but the pendulum of momentum still remained on the Illini's side.

"I thought Aleksa came in there, and she sat for awhile with foul trouble, and gave us a little shot in the arm," Moren said. "Sometimes you just have to find ways and grind out."

Illinois cut it to just one point with 2:39 to go, but that was the closest they would get. Indiana ended the game on a 7-0 run to secure the victory from there.

Cardaño-Hillary hit a big basket with 57 seconds to extend Indiana's lead from three to five. That was probably the dagger for the Hoosiers as Illinois searched for three-pointers but couldn't knock one down in the final minute.

"One of the other players fell on the ground and kind of left the rim wide open, and my shot hadn't been falling, so I figured you know this is a good time to attack and I finished it," Cardaño-Hillary said. "I felt like that was a good push for the team."

Ali Patberg hit a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left and Indiana left Champaign with an eight-point win, improving to 13-4 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten.

"We struggled offensively. It definitely wasn't our night in all areas," Patberg said. "But like coach said, it's not gonna be pretty all the time, and we found a way to win and to get enough stops and to come out with a win."

Indiana's two leading scorers, Mackenzie Holmes and Grace Berger, both struggled to score the ball. Berger shot 4-of-11 from the field but did manage to get 10 points and five rebounds.

Holmes really struggled, shooting just 1-of-16 from the field and scoring seven points.

"I thought Mac struggled today," Moren said. "She had one of those days where nothing easy went in. She was overthinking and then she was pressing. I think she was trying to help her team. It was one of those days where Mac just struggled."

Despite her offensive struggles, Holmes did have 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Patberg led the way with 16 points and Cardaño-Hillary added 11. Moren commended the leadership of Patberg down the stretch to keep Indiana poised as the Illini tried to pull off the upset.

As Moren said, it wasn't pretty, but the Hoosiers were able to walk away with a win, and sometimes that's all that matters.

Next up for Indiana is a big-time matchup at home against No. 12 Michigan on Thursday.

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