Indiana women’s basketball coach Teri Moren has learned to give her talented shooters space when they go through a prolonged slump. 

She stuck to that game plan in recent weeks while watching Yarden Garzon go 3 of 18 (16.7%) from 3-point range during IU’s three-game losing streak. It was only the second time in Garzon’s career she shot under 20% in three consecutive games, but Moren’s patience paid off. 

Garzon broke out of her slump on Monday night with a career-best performance in a 73-70 win over Washington.

The junior forward scored a career-high 35 points and went 8 of 10 from 3-point range — she had more 3-pointers than the entire Huskies team — to surpass 1,000-career points. She’s the 33rd player to reach the milestone, but that achievement took a back seat to helping IU get a crucial Quad 1 win to add to the team’s NCAA Tournament resume and end a challenging West Coast swing on a high note. 

“It feels amazing just to see the ball go through the net again and again,” Garzon said, with a smile. 

‘I feel like I didn’t change a thing’

Indiana practiced at some unfamiliar places on their road trip including the Seattle Storm’s training facility, but Garzon maintained the same practice routine she’s used throughout her career. 

The Ra’anana, Israel native came into Tuesday night’s game as a 42% career 3-point shooter. While she’s shooting under 40% this season (37.3%), she’s attempting two more triples per game (6.6) than she did last year and ranks among the top 50 Division 1 players with 2.47 made 3-pointers per game.  

It’s why she didn’t even spend much time thinking about her recent shooting woes.

“I feel like I’m really confident about my shot no matter what. I know that they will fall in,” Garzon said. “Last year, I shot it at a really high clip, in some games it doesn’t work or go my way, but I just have to keep showing up every day and doing my thing.”

Moren mentioned Garzon’s confidence in her post-game remarks as well. 

Her unspoken strategy to boost Garzon up in recent games was simply calling the same plays she normally would to get her the ball. It’s the same approach she’s relying on with Sydney Parrish, who has gone through similar struggles of late. 

“I think that can give them the best vote of confidence from me and our staff because we feel like they can come through for us,” Moren said. 

It helped Garzon get on track right out of the gate against Washington. The Hoosiers swung the ball around the perimeter on one of their first possessions to get her an open look. She hit nothing but net and remained locked in for the rest of the night.  

‘We rely on her’

Garzon’s 35 points are the most since Amanda Cahill scored 38 in a four-overtime win over Michigan State in 2018. Garzon’s career-high eight 3-pointers tied for the second most in a game in school history. 

Indiana isn’t expecting Garzon to score 30-plus points every night, but Moren has made it clear on multiple occasions this season that the Hoosiers face an uphill battle when Garzon struggles to score. 

It’s why Moren found Garzon’s 21-point performance against Iowa earlier this month so encouraging. 

After knocking down a 3-pointer right in front of the Hawkeyes’ bench early in the game, the Hoosiers relied on Garzon like they did with Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia last year. 

Garzon had a series of clutch moments against Washington as well — she ended a late-game scoring drought by banking in a contested mid-range jumper that set up a 3-point play and made a 20-footer coming off a screen in the final minute. 

Indiana improved to 8-1 when Garzon scores 20 or more points and it was further proof that when she plays at a high level that the Hoosiers are capable of beating anyone.

“I’m trying to do my best,” Garzon said. “If it goes in, it’s just fun and I’m happy to help the team win. That’s the most important thing.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

The Washington Nationals took a walk on the wild side by signing a pitcher that seldom walks many. Shinnosuke Ogasawara, 27, also has a 54-72 career record, doesn’t throw very hard, and had a losing record in seven of nine pro seasons in Japan.

Nevertheless, General Manager Mike Rizzo told reporters that he believes the left-hander is “big league ready.”

Ogasawara got a two-year, $3.5 million contract last week as the first free agent in team history to be signed from Japan. He is expected to compete for a job in the rotation behind MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and Michael Soroka. His chief competition is expected to come from nine-year MLB veteran Trevor Williams and second-year men DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker and Jackson Rutledge.

“This is the deepest starting pitching staff we’ve had in a long time in the upper minor leagues and major leagues,” Rizzo said. “We think we go nine or 10 deep now, which is something that we’ve been trying to get to for years.

“You never have enough starting pitching. That is the driver of success in the big leagues.”

Rizzo said the club had scouted Ogasawara for a few years and likes the soft tosser’s ability to throw strikes. The lefty walked only 1.4 batters per nine innings in 2024, when he had a 3.12 earned run average but only a 5-11 record for the Chunichi Dragons.

Ogasawara turned pro at age 18. He has relied on a fastball/changeup mix and occasionally throws a curveball that has been timed at under 70 mph. The fastball averages 89 to 91 mph, but he has shown the ability to place it where he wants in the strike zone.

Two decades ago, Jamie Moyer baffled batters with slow stuff. The lefty’s fastball averaged 82 mph when he had a 21-7 record at age 40 for the 2003 Seattle Mariners. He also threw a 77 mph cutter and 73 mph changeup, both with movement. He pitched until age 49.

Ogasawara’s best season was 2022, when he went 10-8 with a 2.72 ERA, 140 strikeouts and only 40 walks. Rizzo believes the 5-foot-11, 180-pound pitcher can do better.

“Part of the attractiveness to him is that he’s not a finished product,” Rizzo said. “There’s still some development that he could learn from and become a better pitcher than he even is now.”

Japanese Pitchers In MLB

There are 11 players from Japan returning in 2025 to MLB rosters. Nine of them are pitchers, including two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He did not pitch in 2024 as he recovered from Tommy John Surgery.

The others: Yu Darvish and Yuki Matsui, San Diego Padres; Shintaro Fujinami, Seattle Mariners; Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs; Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels, Kenta Maeda, Detroit Tigers; Kodai Senga, New York Mets; Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers.

The Dodgers recently signed prized prospect Roki Sasaki to a $6.5 million contract and the Baltimore Orioles signed Tomoyuki Sugano in December to a one-year, $13 million deal.

Ichiro The Exception

Last week, former outfielder Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Most of the 70 other Japanese players in MLB history have been pitchers, starting with Masanori Murakami in 1964.

The right-hander pitched in 54 games for the San Francisco Giants before returning to Japan after the 1965 season at age 22. He had a 5-1 record, 3.43 ERA and 9 saves. Murakami went on to pitch 566 games in Japan until 1982, going 103-82 overall.

It would be 30 years before MLB got another Japanese player. Hideo Nomo joined the Dodgers in 1995 and was the NL Rookie of the Year with a 13-6 record. Overall in America, he worked in 324 games for seven teams through 2008, twice pitching no-hitters.

In 2000, Kazuhiro Sasaki won the AL Rookie of the Year Award at age 32 with the Seattle Mariners after earning 37 saves. He totaled 129 saves over four MLB seasons.

Now, Roki Sasaki, no relation, is an early favorite to be the NL’s top rookie in 2025.

Tomo Ohka To Washington

The only Japanese pitcher to previously play for the Nationals was Tomo Ohka in 2005. He went to Washington when the Montreal Expos moved there that year.

Ohka pitched parts of four seasons for the Yokohama Bay Stars before the Boston Red Sox purchased his contract. He had a spectacular debut in Boston’s farm system in 1999, going 15-0 with a 2.32 ERA in 24 games.

In 33 games over parts of three seasons for Boston, Ohka was barely okay. He had only a 6-13 record and was dealt to Montreal at the trading deadline in 2001. His best season was 2002: a 13-8 record and 3.18 ERA.

In one year with Washington, he went 4-3, then pitched for Milwaukee, Toronto and Cleveland before finishing his career back in Japan.

The Nationals are hopeful that throwing strikes with a limited arsenal will lead to more success for Shinnosuke Ogasawara.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to visit Washington from February 3 until February 5, according to Israeli and American sources cited by Walla on Monday.

Senior Israeli officials stated that this planned trip depends on Netanyahu’s health status, the report noted.