Three Things: Indiana women’s basketball beats Northwestern 72-50

Well.

Talk about an eventful day for Indiana women’s basketball, which cruised to a 72-50 win over Northwestern on the road.

Here’s three things:

Grace Berger

We’ve gotten a few updates on Grace Berger’s knee injury these past few weeks from Teri Moren, nothing concrete. First she had a brace, then she didn’t. Then, very suddenly, the program’s official Twitter account listed her as being among the starting lineup for Indiana’s matchup against Northwestern today.

Then she uhhhhhh set a new season high in scoring with 16 points.

Sure!

Jokes aside, having Berger back makes a world of difference for this team. She’s this team’s undisputed leader on and off the court. Her slashing ability adds another dimension to the Hoosiers’ attack and her defense has been missed at the guard spot.

Three point shooting

So, Indiana’s ability to hit shots from beyond the arc has seemingly vanished as it’s entered Big Ten play. The Hoosiers shot a less than great 3-22 clip from the perimeter against Northwestern, but they won by 22 points so it didn’t really matter.

But it will.

The Iowas, Ohio States and Michigans will be there to take advantage if Indiana runs cold down the line. Shooters like Sara Scalia, Sydney Parrish, Yarden Garzon and others are going to have to find a rhythm.

Indiana has too many players capable of shooting well to have games like today. They’ve gotta figure that out before it’s too late.

Defense

For its scoring woes, if you can really call them that, Indiana had Northwestern in a terrible spot all game.

The Wildcats weren’t able to get shots off. When they were, they only hit on about 36% of them. Indiana’s defense saw a few slips against Nebraska and Michigan State, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that became more of an emphasis.

Teri Moren and co hang their hat on Indiana’s defense. It’s the stated identity of the program she’s built, so it probably feels good on the Hoosiers’ end to find that groove again.