No. 19 Maryland Spoils Senior Day For Indiana Women As Hoosiers Fall 74-60

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When the Indiana women’s basketball welcomed No. 19 Maryland for the home finale on Thursday, the storybook ending for Chloe Moore-McNeil, Sydney Parrish and Karoline Striplin would have been a victory.

Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, that isn’t what was written in the stars.

Maryland took control of the game in the second quarter and was only briefly knocked off course by the Hoosiers. Maryland sealed the victory as Shyanne Sellers scored 21 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Terrapins earned a 74-60 Big Ten victory.

Yarden Garzon led Indiana with 18 points and is one made 3-point away from tying the school record of 206 set by Kris McGrade from 1991-94. Shay Ciezki had 15 points. Parrish had 13 points and Striplin had 10. Moore-McNeil had 10 assists.

It was a frustrating night for Parrish and the rest of the Hoosiers.

“I think we had a rough game today. I think we saw glimpses of us playing how we can play, but Maryland’s a ranked team,” Parrish said. “They’re really good. We’re not ranked, but we need to come out with those wins.”

Indiana struggled against Maryland’s bruising defense. The Hoosiers needed outside shots to fall to counter the difficulty in scoring near the rim, but that didn’t happen. Indiana was 8 of 23 from 3-point range, the majority of the misses taking place in the first half.

Maryland also had a 39-24 rebounding advantage, but that was due in part to Indiana dropping back after its own shots to keep the Terrapins from getting any buckets on the break.

Indiana was down 10 at halftime, but gave themselves some hope of a recovery in the third quarter as they solved the physical Maryland defense and shot 50% from the field in the third period. A Striplin layup with 1:18 left in the period shaved Maryland’s lead to 43-39. It was a seven-point gap going into the final quarter.

That’s when Sellers put her stamp on the proceedings.

Sellers had been quiet for most of the game, but a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute of the final quarter got the All-Big Ten standout going. Her start helped Maryland (22-6, 12-5) pull ahead by 12. When Maryland – who was playing without two of its top four scorers – needed a bucket Sellers provided one.

“We had Yarden on her in the first half, and then she picked up her fouls, and then we put Chloe on her, which we thought was a safe bet,” Moren said.

“And then she got going. She hit the two back to back threes, just off of a little flex action that they like to run. And she read it. Chloe jumped it, you know, the second time she jumped it way too far,” Moren added.

Indiana (17-11, 9-8) hung around – Parrish hit a couple of threes to answer buckets by the Terrapins – but the Hoosiers couldn’t make any headway. An opportunity presented itself with 3:11 left when an intentional foul called against Sellers gave the Hoosiers two free throws and the ball down by eight. Shay Ciezki made the free throws, but Indiana turned it over on the possession.

Indiana never got another chance to threaten as a 3-pointer by Kaylene Smikle and a layup by Christina Dalce put the Terrapins back up by double-digits, an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.

From the start, defense ruled the roost at Assembly Hall.

Early on, it was Indiana’s defense that held sway. Maryland, missing double-digit scorers Saylor Poffenbarger and Bri McDaniel, couldn’t find the mark as the Terrapins missed their first eight shots.

However, Indiana didn’t take maximum advantage. The Hoosiers could only build a 6-0 lead before the Terrapins began to reel them in. By the end of the first quarter, it was tied at 14.

Maryland’s physicality is a trademark under coach Brenda Frese and that bruising style really started to bother the Hoosiers in the second quarter.

Indiana missed six shots in a row at the end of the first and start of the second quarter as Maryland was able to inch ahead.

Through the middle of the second quarter, both teams had equal stopping power, but the Hoosiers blinked first. An off-balance Amari DeBerry jumper started a run of six straight buckets for Maryland. It went along with a five-bucket drought for the Hoosiers. Maryland’s 12-0 run made it 30-18 and the Terrapins led by 10 at halftime.

“I think we had a lot of silly turnovers, I know I did in the game that were kind of careless, just because they sped us up a little bit in the half court. But I think we knew that that was coming, and we have to prepare for it,” Parrish said.

Indiana was just 3 of 14 from the field in the second quarter, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range. It was a drought the Hoosiers were unable to overcome in the second half.

There were videos shown after the game in tribute to the seniors, but no Senior Day speeches.

Indiana wraps up the regular season with a trip to Purdue for a 2 p.m. ET game on Sunday. Indiana will need to win to avoid having to play on the first day of the Big Ten Tournament.

That’s what’s next, but Moren regretted what was in a Senior Night gone wrong for three Indiana seniors.

“I’ve been able to coach Chloe her entire career and then for Syd to come back and be a part of Indiana. And then you know Strip has been such a blessing as well. So, I hated that we couldn’t win for them,” Moren said.