BLOOMINGTON — Early in the third quarter of IU women’s basketball game against Penn State, the Nittany Lions went on a 6-0 run to open up a 45-36 lead. IU star Mackenzie Holmes hit a quick shot to soften the blow, and coach Teri Moren called timeout.

Moren’s team — which is ranked 13th in the country and entered Wednesday as a sizable favorite — was in danger of dropping a classic “trap game” before playing at No. 3 Iowa on Saturday. With the Hoosiers not defending at the level they wanted, two of their seniors stepped up vocally.

We’ve got to have more pride. 

We’re better than this.

Those were the remarks made by Sydney Parrish and Chloe Moore-McNeil when their team faced a deficit. Those words, along with Moren’s frustration, helped Indiana snap out of its sluggish start.

More: IU women rally to 13th straight win, beat Penn State for 5-0 Big Ten start

“It took us going down by nine to have a really good heart-to-heart in that timeout,” Moren said. “I had to get after them, and they responded.”

At that point, 36 of Penn State’s 45 points came inside the paint. Penn State mustered only 10 more paint points in the game’s final 17 minutes. The tightening of the Indiana defense propelled the Hoosiers (14-1, 5-0 Big Ten) to a 75-67 win over Penn State (10-5, 1-3).

In the first half (and the first few minutes of the third quarter), Penn State simply beat IU off the dribble. Possession after possession, the Nittany Lions’ guards got past on-ball defenders for easy scores at the rim. All three of Penn State’s starting guards — Shay Ciezki, Taylor Valladay and Leilani Kapinus — had eight or more points at halftime, when their team led 39-34.

After Moren’s critical timeout, those easy blow-bys were harder to come by for Penn State.

“I think we really just needed to dig our feet in the ground and get stops,” Parrish said. “We can't let them score 30 points in the paint in one half. That's kind of ridiculous. We’ve just got to be more disciplined on the defensive end.”

Those three starting Penn State guards combined for 15 points on 4-for-14 shooting in the second half. Indiana locked in more on defense to turn the tide.

“It was a gut-check time,” Moren said of the timeout huddle. “It was about pride and being able to guard our man better. But also being able and willing to help each other guard the ball better.”

The gut check led to the Hoosiers picking up their 13th consecutive win after their lone loss at Stanford on Nov. 12. It was far from a pretty game, but it was enough for IU to continue Big Ten play unscathed.

Moren has raised concerns about IU’s defense from day one. Even as the Hoosiers obliterated mid-major teams by over 30 points, Moren saw tendencies she disapproved of on the defensive end.

Despite holding a terrific Penn State attack to 28 second-half points, Moren isn’t satisfied.

“We also have to be so much better defensively, and take more pride in just guarding one-on-one,” Moren said. “We just didn't adjust. We stood around a lot, we were in our gaps, we didn't try to give any kind of support to our teammates.

“We got a little bit better in the second half, but just by a little. So we'll have to go back and watch film and watch ourselves standing around, and realize that when teams want to put their head down and go downhill, how we have to adjust to that is by being in more of a support role for our teammate.”

Part of the reason Penn State had a party at the rim early was Indiana’s concern about the Nittany Lions’ shooting. Penn State came in shooting 41.5% on 3-pointers, the second-best rate in the country. It felt like Indiana’s perimeter players were timid to help off shooters, leading to Penn State’s interior dominance. Penn State — which attempted 22.7 3s per game before Wednesday — took only 10 3s, making three.

While it’s never smart to completely abandon shooters, there’s a balance that must be stricken. Penn State is excellent at shooting 3s and 2s, and IU wasn’t ready to defend both on Wednesday.

Moren’s consistent expectation of wanting better for her team — even in wins — shows the expectations IU has. The Hoosiers are no longer a team that’s on the rise in the Big Ten. IU’s been a top-four seed in the past three NCAA tournaments and won its first Big Ten title in 40 years in 2023.

Indiana is getting opponents’ best shot every night, and it expects to be in the nation’s upper echelon. Moren knows that.

Who else knows that? Moren’s tried and trusted senior class. The starting nucleus of Holmes, Parrish, Moore-McNeil and Sara Scalia understand their coach’s expectations, to the point that they’re able to pick out warts simultaneously with Moren.

When IU travels to play Iowa — the third-best scoring offense in the country (90.6 points per game) — it can’t afford a start like it had against Penn State. The whole team knows that.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana women's basketball rallies past Penn State, Iowa is up next