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

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

Posted by author January 12, 2025 Basketball

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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.

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 same that we come into every game and we want to win the game, to be the toughest team, and I feel like every time we’re on the road we’re trying to bring it with us.”

Iowa lost Clark, the leading scorer in men’s and women’s Division I basketball history, and Indiana lost Holmes, the program’s career leading scorer. Both of them defined a crucial era.

Both teams have revamped their rosters. Indiana had to learn how to play without a commanding post presence, and Iowa had to learn to play without its franchise-altering guard.

Indiana added Shay Ciezki and Karoline Striplin, both immediate contributors, out of the transfer portal. Iowa added Lucy Olsen out of the transfer portal out of Villanova, as well as five freshmen.

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For Indiana, the change has not been seamless. The Hoosiers took bad losses to both Harvard and Butler early in the season as they learned how to revamp their playing style. They struggled against No. 16 North Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis final, just one day after taking down ranked Baylor in the semifinal.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Indiana, to say the least, but the Hoosiers are finally starting to figure it out. That winning culture shined through, giving Indiana its third ranked win of the season.