A surprisingly close affair against a formidable Hoosiers squad ends in heartbreaking fashion.
The ‘Cats just couldn’t find nylon when it mattered most.
Northwestern (7-9, 0-5 B1G) fell to Indiana (11-4, 3-1 B1G) 68-64 in heartbreaking fashion on Wednesday night, losing its grasp on a one-point lead with less than two minutes in the game.
For the ‘Cats, Melannie Daley led the team with 17 points on 8-for-17 shooting, including some clutch baskets in the game’s final minutes. Taylor Williams also notched a double-double, recording 15 points and 13 rebounds on an efficient 5-for-6 night from the field. As a team, the purple-and-white went just 9-for-15 from the charity stripe.
For the Hoosiers, Shay Ciezki led the way with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting, sinking a three with a minute left to put the Hoosiers up late. Karoline Striplin also contributed 13 points off the bench, as well as four rebounds and two assists.
Williams won the tip for the ‘Cats, but Caileigh Walsh couldn’t get her first shot to go. Both teams went ice cold to start a below-freezing night in Evanston, combining for seven straight misses. Hoosiers forward Yarden Garzon hit two free throws for the first points of the night, sparking the scoring. NU would get on the board soon after, as Walsh rattled home a three from the top of the arc.
Three minutes in, Daley worked her way inside and sank a soft midrange jumper to put the ‘Cats up 5-2. After a three from Sydney Parrish, Daley found Williams for an easy layup at the cup. But the Hoosiers had found their shot, as Garzon canned another deep shot to put Indiana up 10-7 heading into the under-five media timeout.
The ‘Cats struck out of the timeout, as Daley swished home a spinning midrange fadeaway to put them within one. Parrish answered right back as she converted a three with the shot clock running down, giving the Hoosiers a 13-9 lead.
After Parrish split a pair of free throws, Sullivan sank a baseline jumper to put the ‘Cats back within three. Indiana would hit right back as Ciezki converted a layup to make it 16-11. Following two close shots by Lilly Meister in the the quarter’s final 60 seconds, Indiana was up by nine, and seemingly running away with the game in a hurry.
But NU opened the second quarter on a heater, as Walsh and Williams combined for four consecutive baskets at the rim to bring the score to 20-19. After a turnover by Lau, Ciezki clanked home an elbow jumper to snap Indiana’s scoring drought.
Following a successful and-one by Striplin, the Hoosiers were up 25-19. But Daley fired right back, sinking a deep shot from the left wing to bring the ‘Cats back within three. On the next possession, Daley hit yet another shot, this one a baseline jumper to make it 25-24. Striplin responded on the other end with an easy layup before a timeout stopped play.
Coming out of the timeout, Hoosiers guard Chloe Moore-McNeil found a cutting Striplin for a close shot to make it 29-24. On the other end, Kyla Jones snaked to the basket for her first points of the night. With seconds remaining in the half, Garzon hurled a full-court pass to Parrish for an uncontested layup to put Indiana up 31-26.
The ‘Cats and Hoosiers were similarly inefficient in the first half, both shooting under 40% from the field in the first 20 minutes. Most notably, the purple-and-white failed to draw a single shooting foul, while Indiana went 6-of-7 from the line. The Hoosiers also had the leg up in terms of pace, recording seven fastbreak points to NU’s zero.
Indiana kicked off the second half with a stepback jumper from Garzon to make it 33-26. Two minutes in, NU finally got back on the board with two free throws from Williams. Following a miss by Parrish, Walsh swished a baseline jumper to put the ‘Cats back within three. Soon after, Parrish swiped the ball from Lau and found a streaking Striplin for the layup.
With six minutes left in the quarter, the ‘Cats struck gold on two straight possessions to cut Indiana’s lead to 35-34. Striplin responded with an elbow jumper, but Walsh struck right back with a three from the right wing to tie the game. As the shot clock wound down, Ciezki hit Garzon in the corner for a deep shot to make it 40-37 heading into a media timeout.
With less than a minute remaining, Casey Harter rose up to reject Ciezki’s midrange attempt. On the other end, Jones went coast-to-coast for a transition layup to make it 43-41. But the Hoosiers would get the final say in the quarter, as Parrish sank a three in the last seconds to put her team up by five.
The ‘Cats started the final quarter with two free throws by Williams, shrinking their deficit down to three. With 6:48 to go, Walsh took her own successful trip to the charity stripe, making it 48-46 in favor of the Hoosiers. On the other end, Ciezki drove to the basket and drew contact from Daley, sinking her free throw to put Indiana back up by five.
With six minutes left on the night, Harter hit a corner three to cut into the Hoosiers’ lead, but Ciezki fired back with a deep shot of her own to make it 54-49. Just over a minute later, Daley swished a leaning midrange jumper, but Lexus Bargesser immediately responded with an easy layup. Daley wouldn’t be denied, however, as she fired back with another swish from outside the paint.
With 3:24 to go, Ciezki sank two free throws to put Indiana back up 58-53. On the other end, Sullivan swallowed up an offensive rebound and hit the putback to trim NU’s deficit back down to three. After a miss by Meister, Jones banked home a pretty left-handed layup to cut Indiana‘s lead to 58-57.
After Williams hustled for a rebound, Sullivan found Daley for a stepback jumper from the elbow to put the ‘Cats up 59-58, marking their first lead since midway through the first quarter. On the other end, Ciezki fired back for a three with just over a minute remaining.
With 59.1 seconds remaining, Williams hit one of her two free throws to bring NU back within one. On the other end, Meister leveraged her height to bank home an easy layup and make it 63-60. After two free throws by Moore-McNeil, the Hoosiers were up by five with 20 seconds left.
Moore-McNeil hit one more shot from the charity stripe to put Indiana up 66-61. With six seconds left, Xamiya Walton heaved a three from deep and found nothing but net to bring NU within two and hold out a sliver of hope. But, Ciezki hit two more free throws to seal the victory for the Hoosiers.
Things will only get harder from here, as the ‘Cats will head to Los Angeles next to take on No. 1 UCLA on Sunday afternoon. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. CST.