Without Sydney Parrish, Chloe Moore-McNeil And Lilly Meister Step Up Scoring As Indiana Drops Maine 78-53

Indiana found its offensive rhythm in the second half against Maine.

Indiana's Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) and Shay Ciezki (10) celebrate after the Indiana versus Maine women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Lilly Meister took two shots in the first half as the Indiana women’s basketball team struggled to pull away from Maine.

The plan in the second half was simple for the Hoosiers – find Meister and let her work against an undersized Black Bears front line.

That’s exactly what the Hoosiers did.

Meister scored 14 points in the third quarter – three different Hoosiers had assists on her field goals – and Indiana rode that wave to a 78-53 victory over Maine Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Chloe Moore-McNeil also had one of her best efforts of the season and finished with a game-high 22 points. While Meister was found for buckets in the second half, Moore-McNeil was hunting her shot from the beginning. That’s particularly important since Indiana is without injured Sydney Parrish.

“I think (it’s) not just me stamping my ticket and saying I need to do more offensively and defensively. It's going to take everybody to kind of try to fill Sydney’s shoes,” Moore-McNeil said.

Meister’s contribution was important as Maine had proven to be difficult for the Hoosiers to put away in the first half. Her 14 third-quarter points were much needed.

It begs the question with Meister. Does she need to be fed the ball more? Or does she need to demand it more?

“If I have a good seal, or I feel like I have an advantage, I'm going to try to score, but for the most part, it's really how it works with the flow of (the offense),” Meister said.

Indiana coach Teri Moren would like to have Meister be a bigger part of the Indiana attack, and it’s a two-way street.

Indiana's Lilly Meister (52) shoots during the Indiana versus Maine women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“She has such a different mindset to (Mackenzie Holmes), where Mack begged for the ball all the time,” Moren said. “We have to get Lilly to beg for the ball a little more, because she is efficient around the rim, and our guards have to do a better job of playing with their eyes up. I thought we missed her a couple of times inside.”

Indiana had its best shooting game of the season, hitting 52.6% overall and 50% from 3-point range. It was an encouraging development given that the Parrish injury situation has more clarity.

Parrish will be out “short term” after she injured her knee in Indiana’s Battle 4 Atlantis victory over No. 18 Baylor.

Julianna LaMendola has started in Parrish’s place.

“I've liked the way that Jules has responded to a new role, because, as we always tell them, you never know,” Moren said.

Moren also updated guard Lenee Beaumont’s status. She will have a procedure done on her knee, and her status will be determined after that. Beaumont has not played this season.

The Hoosiers (5-3) shook off the offensive woes they experienced in their 69-39 loss to North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis Monday, burying their first five shots of the game. Moore-McNeil was at the center of it all and made a pair of 3-pointers during the hot streak. Indiana led 14-5 less than five minutes into the game.

Indiana’s first-half summit would come later in the first quarter when the Hoosiers led 19-8, but Maine didn’t panic. The Black Bears (3-5) had a well-drilled, inside-out offense that began to break the Hoosiers down. The Black Bears made six shots in a row bridging the first to second quarter to slice Indiana’s lead to five.

“They put a lot of pressure on you. They’re a challenging team to guard,” said Moren, who noted that Maine’s five-guard lineup was a matchup challenge for the Hoosiers.

Indiana’s offense went into a slump at around the same time, and the Hoosiers had a fight on their hands. A Caroline Dotsey 3-pointer with 4:10 left in the first half pulled Maine within two.

“I felt like we were just handing them shots where there were wide open threes,” Moore-McNeil said.

Indiana's Lexus Bargesser (1) shoots during the Indiana versus Maine women's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Moore-McNeil ensured that the Black Bears couldn’t make a further dent. She scored five points in the final 3:43 of the second quarter to help give Indiana some breathing room as the Hoosiers led 36-28 at halftime.

Indiana took that gap and ran with it to start the second half. The Hoosiers shared the ball and were able to get much easier chances at the rim as a result.

Meister was the beneficiary, with five buckets in the first six minutes of the third quarter. Indiana’s defense also had more bite as Maine struggled to get any clean shots. It all resulted in a 17-4 run to start the second half, and the Hoosiers didn’t look back.

The Maine victory continued a roller-coaster ride. In the last seven days, Indiana beat No. 18 Baylor, lost by 30 to No. 16 North Carolina and then had their best shooting effort against Maine.

“I think we all kind of felt like we were going to be a little bit up and down. And I tried to prepare the kids for that,” Moren said. “Playing without a kid like Mackenzie Holmes, it's an adjustment for us, and it's taken us some time to figure some of those things out.”

Indiana hosts Southern Indiana on Wednesday.

Related stories on Indiana women's basketball

• INDIANA CAN'T FIND THE MARK IN LOSS TO NORTH CAROLINA: The Hoosiers struggled with their shot in a 69-39 loss to North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. 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.

• 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