The Indiana women’s basketball’s first West Coast road trip in the new-look Big Ten didn’t get off to a good start at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Hoosiers (12-7; 4-4 Big Ten) led by as many as 10 points in the second half and were on top for 33-plus minutes, but got tripped up down the stretch. They turned the ball over five times in the final 4:30 as the Ducks (15-5; 6-3) closed out a 54-47 win.
Indiana only had one field goal in the final 5:09 of the game and those turnovers all came before the Hoosiers could set up their half court offense. They gifted Oregon the ball at the top of the key and that led to a series of easy fast break layups.
Oregon finished the game with 17 points off turnovers — IU only had four points off turnovers — and that proved to be the difference in a game where the Ducks shot just 33.9% from the field.
Indiana has now lost three straight games for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
Indiana women’s basketball wastes double-digit lead in the third quarter against Oregon
Sydney Parrish’s 3-pointer with 5:36 to go in the third quarter pushed IU’s lead to double-digits, 32-22, for the first time. The former Ducks guard pumped her first as her former coach Kelly Graves called a timeout.
Oregon responded with a 10-0 run coming out of the break to tie the game. The Ducks opened the second half with a scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes during a stretch of play that mirrored how they started the game.
Indiana just couldn’t get in a rhythm to built a bigger lead admist Oregon’s ongoing shooting woes.
Karoline Striplin, who was starting her second game this season, was IU’s lone source of consistent offense. The Hoosiers struggled when she had to check out for a prolonged stretch in the third quarter after picking up her third personal foul.
She finished with a team-high 14 points and Sydney Parrish (10 points) was the only other Hoosiers player in double-digits
Indiana women’s basketball matches Oregon’s lack of production in first half
Oregon missed its first eight shots and didn’t score a field goal until Amina Muhammad’s layup with 4:18 to go in the first quarter, but Indiana was unable to take advantage. The Hoosiers turned it over four times during that stretch and had an extended scoring drought of their own. They went 3 of 12 to close out the first after scoring on their first two possessions.
It was more of the same in the second half as both teams struggled shooting the ball and were sloppy with the basketball.
The lone exception came when Peyton Scott gave Oregon its first lead midway through the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers. She banked in both shots from near the logo at the top of the key.
Scott’s offensive outburst was sandwiched between a pair of scoring droughts that topped seven minutes. The Ducks shot 28.1% (9 of 32) in the first quarter and were just 3 of 12 on layups, but never trailed by more than five points in the half.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana women’s basketball drops third straight game with loss to Oregon
