‘Everything has changed.’ After up-and-down start, Indiana women’s basketball beats Iowa

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When Yarden Garzon hit her first 3-pointer Sunday afternoon, she briskly turned to make her way back down to the other side of the court.

In the process, she gave the Iowa bench a long look. A look, Garzon said, that she made sure conveyed that the Hoosiers were here. And here to stay.

“I just remembered last year here, and I didn’t want it to happen again,” Garzon said. “So I just gave them a look to show that we are here and we’re here to win the game.”

Indiana women’s basketball traveled to Iowa City for their sole meeting with the Hawkeyes nearly a year after it braved a snowstorm to get to Carver-Hawkeye Arena in February 2024 just to take a 17-point loss.

This time there was no snowstorm, no Caitlin Clark leading the Hawkeyes, no Mackenzie Holmes leading the Hoosiers.

There were some similarities. The Iowa crowd, even without Clark in the building, was as raucous as ever (evidenced by the loud boos when calls didn’t go Iowa’s way).

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for Iowa, we always have,” IU coach Teri Moren said. “… This is an excellent program that has been left in excellent hands.”

Again, it was a lopsided result — only this time, in favor of the Hoosiers. Indiana, which led by 15 points, took down Iowa 74-67.

More: Indiana women’s basketball defeats No. 23 Iowa, the Hoosiers’ third ranked win this season

Garzon poured in 21 points behind 7-of-8 shooting — including a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range. After one of those 3s, she blew a kiss to what became a quiet Iowa crowd.

“Yarden is built for moments, right?” Moren said. “Even if (her first 3-pointer) didn’t go in, she was gonna shoot, and she was gonna keep shooting because that’s just Yarden. Tonight, she certainly had a special night.”

This win, too, has been a long time coming. It’s just IU’s second in Iowa City this century.

It came after a lot of change.

“Everything has changed,” Garzon said. “Our playing style changed, our spirit changed. Our culture is the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/everything-changed-down-start-indiana-233703951.html

Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2025-01-12 23:37:00

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