3 reasons IU women's basketball overcame slow start in Big Ten quarterfinals to beat MSU

MINNEAPOLIS -- Indiana overcame a slow start, then withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to down Michigan State, 94-85, in the Big Ten quarterfinals Friday.

Indiana women's basketball's response to adversity

Following a heartbreaking loss to Iowa in the regular-season finale, there was a lot to be learned from IU's performance in the tournament quarterfinals. And honestly, its initial response wasn't great.

The Hoosiers' shooters started 1-for-8 from the field with a run of seven straight misses, while the defense was slow to close out along the perimeter and allowed the Spartans to establish themselves inside — both on the glass and in the lane — with relative ease. The lackluster start was magnified further by IU's nine turnovers and allowed MSU to build a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter.

"We needed to fix our minds," coach Teri Moren said. "I thought we sleep-walked in the first quarter, came out slow, and that was uncharacteristic of our basketball team. So that was the adjustment at halftime: To wake up."

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Moren later added she was confident her team would eventually figure things out — "I didn't think it would take till halftime or after halftime," she said — and after failing to sustain runs in the second and early stages of the third quarter (MSU led 47-42 with 6:34 left), the Hoosiers finally broke through.

Back-to-back layups by Mackenzie Holmes were followed by 3-pointers by Sara Scalia (20 points) and Yarden Garzon (12 points), completing a 10-2 run and giving IU its first lead since the game's opening possession.

That was the first of five lead changes over the final five minutes of the quarter, before Chloe Moore-McNeil drilled a 3-pointer to give IU the lead for good at 57-55.

IU pushed its lead to as many as 13 with 1:14 remaining and it maintained a 10-point advantage with 46 seconds left. But Michigan State staged one final rally, drawing to within five before the Hoosiers put it away at the free throw line.

An excellent response by the Hoosiers to both their poor start and their opponent's furious fourth-quarter rally.

"Obviously we're not proud of how we came out in that first half," said Holmes, who scored a team-high 27 points. "But the fact that we were able to weather the storm and keep our foot on the pedal was really special. That's not going to fly (moving forward), so we have to learn from it and we have to be better."

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IU at the line

Michigan State could and probably should have led by more than 10 after a quarter, and by more than six at half. The main thing keeping IU afloat? Free-throw shooting. The Hoosiers converted 10-of-13 in the first half (6-for-9 in the second quarter), to prevent the Spartans from pulling away and to buy their shooters some time to find their rhythm.

IU was nearly perfect at the line in the fourth quarter (17-for-19), with Scalia going 6-for-6 and Moore-McNeil going 9-for-10.

"Chloe was just tremendous," Moren said of Moore-McNeil, who logged 19 points and 11 assists. "Her stat line was very impressive today, and her defense is certainly something that we count on."

Indiana finished 30-for-36 on free throws as a team, with Moore-McNeil and Holmes finishing a combined 21-for-26.

Hoosiers maintained composure

Credit to Michigan State. The Spartans dealt IU one its two regular-season losses (the Hoosiers were without Grace Berger) and they rose to the occasion again Friday. They started hot (4-for-9 from 3 in the first quarter; 9-for-15 in the half), then answered each of Indiana's first-half rallies to maintain their advantage.

The game appeared to be out of reach in the fourth quarter, but a couple — uh, questionable — 3-point fouls went against the Hoosiers, and MSU capitalized with 5-of-6 free throws to cut the score to 85-80 with 35 seconds left.

The Spartans nearly forced a turnover after Kamaria McDaniel (32 points) made it a three-point game, but the ball deflected out of bounds, granting the Hoosiers a reprieve. They inbounded cleanly after a timeout and closed out the surprisingly stressful win at the stripe.

"We just chalk it up to their resilience, but also their maturity," Moren said, describing the finish as "choppy" and "weird."

"I thought our kids tried to keep their composure though," she continued. "We were just trying to get to the finish line. We had a couple opportunities where we could bring them over and continue to remind them, just give them 2s. We're not willing to give up 3s. Give our kids credit for keeping a cool mind out there when things did get a little funky down the stretch."

Injury update

Indiana's Kiandra Browne had to be helped off the floor in the second quarter after being hip-checked underneath the basket. The junior has already had two hip surgeries, Moren said, adding she was being taken to get x-rays off-site. "I don't have a lot of updates on her right now."

"She was in a whole lot of pain when I got out to her," Moren continued. "Just hoping and praying for the best for K.B. because she has been through a lot in her short time at IU with injuries and whatnot. She's just had some bad luck. We'll know more later tonight."

Up next

Indiana will face No. 4-seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes defeated No. 5-seed Michigan, 81-79, in the second quarterfinal.

Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana women's basketball: Why IU beat MSU in Big Ten Tournament