Three Things: IU Women beat Purdue 64-57

Grab the brooms! IU Women complete their season sweep of Purdue with a 64-57 victory. Teri Moren’s crew has won 7 straight vs. the Boilermakers dating back to March of 2019, here’s three things from today’s W:

Discipline

We saw another fairly clean game from IU. The same cannot be said about Purdue. Indiana improved on their season average of 13.7 turnovers per game, tallying just 12. Purdue had 18. The Hoosiers committed 7 fouls, and the Boilermakers committed 20 (including a myriad of preventable ones on the offensive end). IU shot 12-16 from the stripe, while Purdue was a perfect 7-7.

Indiana allowed Purdue to beat itself this afternoon, and the Boilers’ self-inflicted wounds worked wonders in terms of masking IU’s shooting struggles. The Hoosiers converted on just 39% of their field goal attempts, well below their season clip of 46%. When shooters get cold, like they did today, staying out of foul trouble is a must for IU. Three of the top four free throw shooting teams in the conference remain on the schedule, and the Hoosiers can’t afford to give them any free trips to the line. The roster is versatile enough to win both track meets and rock fights, but being the team that sets said pace matters a ton.

Nicole Cardaño-Hillary

NCH is a menace. She pestered Purdue dribblers all afternoon, coaxing Boilermakers into bad shots and forced passes. A big steal and breakaway layup two minutes into the fourth halted a 5-0 Purdue run, and was met by raucous applause from the 7,891 fans in attendance. Cardaño-Hillary once again calmed the 5th largest crowd in IU WBB history when she hit a deep two with 2:14 remaining. A Brooke Moore three had just pulled Purdue within five, but NCH’s long jumper put IU up 60-53, giving the Hoosiers some much needed breathing room.

Whenever the Cream and Crimson get hit, NCH answers the bell, fists raised. The Spaniard finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds over a full 40 minutes of game action. She is this team’s pulse, and given the frenetic energy she plays with, IU will always have life in crunch-time.

Chloe Moore-McNeil

Moore-McNeil was awesome off the bench for the Hoosiers. She set her career-high with 11 points and was 2-4 from deep. Her foul-drawing jumper midway through the first quarter sparked an 8-0 IU run, during which Indiana gained the lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the game. CMM also had a game-high 10 rebounds in her 29 minutes on the floor.

Moore-McNeil’s success is pivotal moving forward. Squeezing in makeups from IU’s two-week COVID hiatus means a busy last month of the regular season; including a stretch of four games in just nine days starting this Wednesday. With so many quick turnarounds, player fatigue is going to become a factor, and Indiana’s depth will be tested. The freshest legs will win come March.

Doesn’t get much better than sweeping Purdue. Next up for the Hoosiers is a date with the Fighting Illini, tip is set for 8pm in Champaign.