Indiana Falls In Sweet Sixteen To UConn
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – 3-seeded Indiana couldn’t withstand a third-quarter push by 2-seeded UConn as it fell, 75-58, in the regional semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Total Mortgage Arena.
KEY MOMENTS
- Indiana (24-9) held a lead for much of the first quarter and led by as many as five in the first quarter, on a reverse underneath the rim by junior forward Mackenzie Holmes.
- UConn dictated the rest of the quarter as it went on an 8-0 run to end the first with a 21-18 advantage.
- Patberg started off the second with a 3-pointer, but UConn went up 6, 27-21. Patberg answered to cut it to three again, but the Huskies used another run to force Indiana into a timeout, going up by nine, 35-26. Four-straight points from Holmes led Indiana back within five but UConn’s Aalyiah Edwards capitalized off a second-chance opportunity.
- With just 1.6 to go before the break and the ball, Indiana’s inbound pass found Gulbe who took one dribble on the right baseline and drained the triple heading into the break.
- But Huskies (26-5) came out blazing in the third quarter, going on a 16-0 run before graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary finally got IU on the board with 5:55 to go. Indiana would get no closer than 11 in the second half as it couldn’t overcome the third quarter deficit in the end.
NOTABLE
- Indiana completes the 2021-22 season 24-9 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten. This is the seventh consecutive season that the Hoosiers have complied a 20-plus win season.
- The Hoosiers reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in back-to-back seasons.
- Saturday’s game marked the final game in the careers for Patberg, Cardaño-Hillary, Gulbe and Grace Waggoner. As a duo, Patberg and Gulbe completed their IU career with 90 wins and a 72 percent winning percentage.
- Patberg led the way in scoring with 16 points as junior forward Mackenzie Holmes tallied a team high six rebounds, two assists and was in double-figure scoring with 12 points.
- Senior guard Grace Berger also scored in double figures as she had 13 points. Berger grabbed five boards along with a steal.
- Cardaño-Hillary collected a team-leading four steals while scoring nine points and snatching four rebounds.
- The Hoosiers shot 49.7 percent from the field while the Huskies shot 46.3 percent.
- Connecticut wins the first meeting in the all-time series between the two schoos.
QUOTABLE
Indiana head coach Teri Moren
‘Well, first of all, congratulations to a very good UConn team. We felt like we got off to a fast start and a really good start. Had a little bit of momentum going into halftime after Lex hits that big three and pulls within four, and we probably needed to stay out there because we went back into the locker room and made some adjustments. But we came back out in the third quarter, and it was just really a bugaboo for us. They got off to a 16-0 run, made a 16-0 run, and you just can’t allow that to happen against a team like UConn. It’s very difficult to overcome a start like that. We just did some uncharacteristic things of our team. We knew it. We were disappointed with that, and then we just didn’t do a good enough job on the boards today. They got second and third-shot opportunities. 14 second-chance points and so forth. Needed to do a better job of protecting the paint. We were unable to do that today and give the credit to UConn. But nonetheless, I’m really proud of our group. We’ve had a tremendous season, have had some adversity that we’ve had to overcome. And as I said to these guys, they just continue to show up every day and do the work for us. Although we’re disappointed, we did not want this thing to end anytime soon because we really enjoy being around each other and working with each other. I’m super proud of my staff and our team in terms of what we were able to overcome and the success that we had this season.”
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